


Two Australians in Shetland - Part 3 - The Asha Period

by chrislouise



Category: Shetland (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-10-08 17:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17390702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrislouise/pseuds/chrislouise
Summary: So much happens in the month coming up to Caprice's birthday.  Will she have a happy birthday?  Amidst the drugs and deaths and other things happening around her, she is caught up in a love triangle. And the other woman isn't Willow Reeves."How could you give your love to someone else and share your dreams with me?"(Save the Best for Last, Vanessa Williams)





	1. The Exhibition

**Author's Note:**

> As I approach Chapter 11 I need to change the ratings. I need to mention a rape. As previously mentioned, none of my scenes are graphic, but Chapter 11 and 12 are when Tosh tells Caprice about her rape in Glasgow. She doesn't go into sordid details, but just the mention means I need to add this rating.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freya's exhibition is on. Freya and Caprice learn that Michael had something to do with the missing boy.

Dear Alex

Well, things went off ok with Freya’s exhibition. Exciting in more ways than one.

We got things organised, we opened up, had drinks and nibbles ready. Then people arrived, and we could stand back and relax and let everything take its course. I wore the earrings I bought from her. Jermaine has recently had her ears pierced and bought a pair to wear. And Michael was wearing those big bold rings she had given him as a present. Oh yes, did I not before mention the rings? I wonder if Jermaine has. You can’t miss them. I’m sure he wears them with pride.

Miriam was iwth me. We stood back to observe it all, Freya was chatting to various potential customers. And who should enter the hall? Jimmy!!!! How I had wanted to ask him to this exhibition. I had mentioned that I was helping Freya with it. I wanted to ask him along, make it a sort of date, even though Jermaine would be there too.

I approached him immediately, wonder if it was too obvious. I asked him what he was doing here, how I had wanted to ask him along. He say, “Is that what you were trying to tell me?”

I said, “No, I wanted to tell you....” I tried to get him into a corner away from everyone else. The letter was in my handbag. While I tried to speak I fidgeted in my handbag for it, but he continued talking, “I’m actually here on business, Caprice. I’d love to stay here with you, but the case has had more developments. Where’s your friend Freya?”

“Freya? What has she to do with it? Don’t tell me she’s involved in drugs?”

“No, I don’t think so. It’s the missing boy.”

“But what has she to do with the ferry? She sometimes takes her goods to the shops there to be sold, but she wouldn’t been on the one coming back. Anyway, she’s over there, by the cabinet with the tiara in it.”

As he left me, it occurred to me. No, Freya had nothing to with that ferry. I know she’s been here on Shetland, I telephone her a few times a week and see her most weekends. But Michael was on the ferry with the missing boy. And indeed, I saw him talking to Michael after he spoke to Freya, and they went outside. Could Michael possibly have anything to do with that boy? 

I approached Freya. She was unsure what was going on, but would talk to me later. Of course, we had to concentrate on the exhibition and the guests.  
When it was finished, Michael helped us tidy up. He said he would have liked to offer me and Mirima and Jermaine a lift but he had business to attend. Freya said she would take us home. I noticed that Michael said nothing about what Jimmy wanted him for. He looked a bit aloof, I don’t know if Freya noticed. I wonder if he didn’t want to give us a lift because he now knows that I am friends with this detective who was asking him questions.

When we were going home, I didn’t want to ask too much, but I had to ask, “Do you know what Jimmy wanted with Michael?”

“It is to do with the missing boy. I wondered that as much as you. Michael was seen on the ferry arguing with him, I think there may have been a fight. Of course witnesses recognise Michael’s rings.”

“Fighting with that boy? When Jimmy said it was to do with the missing boy, I just assumed he was asking routine questions to anyone who was on the ferry.”  
“Yes, I hoped it was just that. I can’t help being concerned, Caprice. I know Michael has had a seedy past that he doesn’t want to talk about. Whether that boy had anything to with that.”

“But that boy would have been a kid during that time.”

Jermaine then chimed in, “Could he be the son of someone of Michael’s past?’

Miriam added, “The mind boggles, Jermaine.”

And it’s so interesting – if one could call it that. I do have similar concerns about Michael. A big goliath of a guy, he’s always been gentle and courteous with me and Freya, but I can see him becoming aggressive if someone egged him on. And with his size, he’s knock the other person unconscious in one hit. I hope he doesn’t ever show aggression to Freya. Not sure about me – I’m friends with a policeman. But if Jimmy was just asking questions, which is his job, how can that be a grudge against me?

Yes I know what you’ll say, Alex. Get on with my everyday life. And I will. But I still have my letter to Jimmy.

Love Caprice.


	2. Tension Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The missing boy's body has been found - dead. Caprice goes to Jimmy's house to finally confront him about her feelings, only to find him in an angry state. Rhona arrives at the same time, and explains to Caprice why Jimmy is angry and she'd better leave. She puts her letter in his letterbox.

Dear Alex

If thing could not get more interesting! But I don’t think the police or doctors or drug squad would see it that way.

I made some excuse to start and finish work early, so I could go to Jimmy’s house before picking up Jermaine at the library. Yes, the midsummer weather is well and truly finished. Days are shorter now. It will probably be dark when I get to town, but Jermaine knows what I’m doing. She giggles about it. No doubt she is emailing Cassie and telling her sordid details. Not that there has been much to tell as yet about their silly old parents.

Well, on the bus to Jimmy’s suburb, I heard the dreaded news. That missing boy has been found. Dead!! Trapped in a rubbish crate on the ferry where he eventually suffocated to death. And rumours are flying as to whether he had anything to do with these drugs that are appearing. The guy who works in the landfill found him.  
How horrific! What a horrid way to go, and he was only 19. No doubt Jimmy will hear about it and be doing all kinds of investigations. I thought if he’s home now, I’m sure he will say something about it – as much as he is allowed to. I must have the letter ready to shove in his hand if that blasted phone rings again.

I did think, what if he isn’t home. He is usually home reasonably early. He takes notes home and works on them. Till late sometimes, Cassie has told me.   
And I had to consider – what if he’s not home? If he does decide to work late in the office. Well then, I’m going back to town anyway, I’ll stop by the station. The letter? Do I leave it in the letterbox or hand it to him at the station, hoping he isn’t in transit? I could give the letter to Billy. It would give me an excuse to go into the station. I’ve been there to see him a couple of times on a social visit, but one or both of the girls has been with me. But Billy is always there for me.

Well, he was home. And in a state I’ve never seen him in. Is the case really getting to him? Surely he’s had nasty cases before. He may have cracked up over them but he obviously got through them.

His house is old and doesn’t have a car garage, so all cars of both residents and visitors are parked further down past the old homes. Due to this, and being engrossed with what I was about to say to Jimmy, I didn’t notice a car park behind me and someone else walking behind me. No, it wasn’t Jimmy. I noticed his car parked before I started wandering to his place.

It was starting to get dark. Oh yes, something to take note of now. These places close to the Arctic, extreme length and shortness of days. Jimmy’s door was ajar. I heard him talking on the phone. He sounded a little agitated. Finally as I approached the door and was about to knock, my letter in my hand, he threw his phone and a plate he was wiping and yelled, “For the love of Christ!!”

Then the person behind me spoke. She called out, “Jimmy!” the turned to me. She was Rhona, the top person of the team, the Fiscal. I have seen her around, but this is the first time I’d met her properly.

“Hello,” she said. “You’re Caprice, aren’t you. I’m Rhona. I finally get to say hello to you. I wish it was under happier circumstances.”

She then went on to say that Jimmy was very tense and upset about the case. It was a very intense case, stressful enough as it was, and someone had lodged a false complaint about him being aggressive and abusive in an interview.

“That’s crazy,” I said. “I have never seen Jimmy speak to anyone in such a manner. I mean I haven’t seen him interview, but I see how he treats people in general. Who would believe such rubbish?”

“I agree with you Caprice. But I have to do the procedures and follow it up.”

“I also heard on the radio on the bus that the missing boy was found dead. I guess you all know of that?”

“Oh yes. And some group of officials from Glasgow won’t let us investigate the body. Jimmy is very angry about that.”

I wanted to say that that was crazy too. What does Glasgow have to do with it? But before I could speak again, we heard Jimmy yelling and cursing again, using words that I have never heard him use before. Rhona said it wasn’t a good time for me to call on him, and she had come to sort him out, as she knew how he had been all day. She would have offered me a lift to the city otherwise. I told her not to worry, I was used to buses.

As I left, I heard Jimmy yell, “Who let you in?!!” My goodness, talking to your boss like that? Jimmy really wasn’t himself. I then heard Rhona say, “Jimmy, we’ll get to the bottom of this.” 

Then I placed the letter in Jimmy’s letterbox, and walked to the bus stop. 

Of course, when I reached the library, Jermaine was jumping up and down, asking how it went. Did I finally lay out all my feelings? I hope she didn’t cause too much distraction from others. They will wonder what’s going on, and I’m still trying to get my head around how much Lerwick people gossip. She was disappointed when I told her, and said couldn’t I push Rhona out of the way? Of course not, she’s his boss. How would it look?

No doubt I’ll tell you more, Alex.  
Love Caprice


	3. Michael's Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caprice is shocked to learn that it was Michael who lodged the false complaint against Jimmy. She again tries to talk to Jimmy, but he is more and more pre-occupied in the case.

Dear Alex

Well, it goes on. This afternoon, after Deidre and I left work and picked up the kids, we went for a short walk along one of the coasts before it got dark. A wee walk, as the locals would say. I spotted Jimmy at a distance, by a kiosk. Michael was walking away from the kiosk. Was he asking more questions? Possibly now that the ferry boy is dead.

I was wondering if Michael would stop to say hello. I said hello first, so he did. He seemed happy enough to see me. I introduced Deidre. He acted his normal courteous self and spoke how he had met her mother at Freya’s exhibition. Deidre then said she’s leave us to it and took the kids down to the beach. I spoke with Michael briefly. He has to go to Glasgow for business, for about a week. Freya is going with him. He winked at me and promised he would look after Freya and bring her back in one piece.

Even when I said I needed to go and see Jimmy, he seemed friendly enough. “Ok, I won’t stop you. I’ve got to go myself. Get prepared for Glasgow.” Don’t know how much he would have to prepare. Because he travels to and fro, Freya says he doesn’t unpack much when he’s here.

Jimmy was on the phone to Cassie when I came up to the kiosk. It was about to close, but I said to the kiosk lady that I didn’t want anything, I was just here to see Jimmy. When Jimmy mentioned to Cassie that I was here she immediately wanted to speak to me. We started chatting about god knows what, and I was wondering who rang first, whose phone bill was going to be huge. It was Cassie, so I tried not to talk too much. She has to save up for Brazil. She has finally talked to Jimmy about Edison.

I finally managed to hand the phone back to Jimmy, so he could say good-bye. I wanted to ask if he had seen my letter but he began to speak, and I could hear the agitation in his voice. Michael! It was Michael who lodged that abuse complaint against him. I’m trying to get my head around it. But why? Does Freya know? Surely she would have stopped him. 

And he mentioned the Glasgow officials taking over the boy’s body. I don’t think anyone can see why that has to be. The boy died on Shetland jurisdiction, and the ferry was coming from Aberdeen. The case should be taken by Shetland or Aberdeen. What has Glasgow got to do with it?

Jimmy said something weird was going on as if it’s a personal vendetta. But why? But we know Jimmy, he won’t give up. That’s why he’s so good at his job. I try to speak again, but I can see the concern in his eye over this case. Plus coming to terms with Cassie leaving the country. He knows I’m trying to tell him something but just strokes my arm and says we’ll catch up soon. He has to go.

I sigh as he leaves, then go down to the beach to join Deidre and the girls. Does he really want to hear that a middle-aged woman loves him when he’s got dead bodies, interfering mobs from Glasgow, a false allegation and a deserting daughter on his mind? But something has to happen. He has to have read the letter.

And so I’ll sign off here Alex. Don’t worry about me. Look after your own family.  
Love Caprice.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

When Jimmy goes to his letterbox, he takes out Caprice’s letter, along with other mail. He is so preoccupied with his case, angry with Glasgow’s meddling, that when he gets out files from work, he inadvertently drops some of the mail into the files, including Caprice’s letter. So her letter is mixed up in his work files, and it will be a while before he discovers it. So he hasn’t seen it, doesn’t know of it, and Caprice is wondering why he hasn’t said anything to her.


	4. Michael's Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freya's workshop is ransacked, and Michael is killed while he is out confronting the young girls responsible. When Caprice is told of this, she and Jermaine rush to Freya. Jimmy informs her he has to go to Glasgow for this investigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things in my story may differ slightly to the events in the TV series, to fit in with my story. Some things I may need to rewatch the show to refresh my memory. I'm trying to remember if Freya is asked if she has a friend or relative to stay with, when she first discovers that Michael is dead. In my story she goes home with Caprice and Jermaine, and stays with Caprice's landlady Miriam.

Dear Marie  
Oh Marie. It’s not stopping. Fun and games in Shetland. Actually it isn’t really fun and games.

I can’t wait to email Cassie and tell her about this. She always said she found Lerwick a bit dull and quiet, which is why she chose to go to uni in Glasgow. And I guess it’s where her grandparents are. She spent quite a bit of time there when her mother was alive.

But it’s not dull and quiet now. I was sitting in the library with Sarah. We were doing our homework. Mum and Deidre came in, looking a bit flustered. Mum in particular. But she’s good at that.

Freya’s workshop has been ransacked! She rang Mum at the bus stop by her work, rang her as soon as she knew Mum was finishing work. She could have rung before and left a message, but I think she wanted to speak to Mum personally.

Mum had asked if she wanted us to come over. Freya said no need, Michael was there. Mum also asked had she contacted the police. Freya had. Jimmy and Sandy went over. But Michael told her not to press charges. Odd thing to say. As it happens, Michael thinks he knows who did it, and wants to take matters into his own hands. Both Mum and Deidre were saying is that wise? Michael has always been nice to us, but we can look at him and wonder if there is a dark side, if you know what I mean. We don’t know about his past, but Freya thinks he may have been in jail. For what, who knows? And Mum was at her wits end when Jimmy told her he had made a complaint against him. I presume she has told Freya.

As we were packing up, Mum got another call. From Freya? No, it was Tosh! I jumped up and down asking if I could talk to her, but Mum wavered me away, indicating that Tosh wanted to tell her something serious. Normally Tosh would happily talk to me afterwards, but she had very horrible news. My head is reeling as I write this.

Michael has been murdered! Shot! Possibly by someone in his past. I felt sick. I mean, as you know, I have known death. I saw Dad die, but he died of an illness, and other relatives died of old age. This is the first time that someone I know has been murdered.

Tosh asked Mum to come to comfort Freya. Deidre offered to go home and get the car, but that might take time, and Tosh had already worked out the bus we could catch, and she would meet us at the bus stop. Besides, said Mum, Freya wouldn’t want too many people around her at the moment. 

Mum even asked me if I wanted to go home with Deidre and the girls. It wouldn’t be pleasant, and Freya would be very distressed. But I wanted to see Freya. I wanted to be with her as much as Mum.

So we were on the bus, it was starting to get dark. Tosh was at the stop, she drove us to Freya’s house. The workshop has been left untouched. Freya said she wasn’t up to tidying it up, but Mum whispered to me afterwards that she got the impression that Freya wanted to leave it as it was for now, in case she spotted something that might be a clue. A clue to who killed Michael.

Jimmy was there. I wondered if Mum would seize another opportunity to tell him how she feels. Maybe not the right time. Everyone spoke about Michael. We sure found out some things about him.

Michael was in witness protection! It was true, Michael had had a bad past, and spent some time in jail. For what, Jimmy is still finding that out. It appears that the killer was part of the people that he was being protected against. Jimmy commented on the way he was shot. A professional shooter with a rifle only professionals would use. Not some random thug who just shot guns anywhere. This person was part of some big nasty gang.

A shock for Freya. She didn’t know about the witness protection. She didn’t know if it would have helped if she knew. Lots of things she didn’t know about him.   
But is she in danger? Mum asked if she should come and stay with us, or with Miriam. Was it Michael’s killer or one of his mates who trashed the workshop? Freya shook her head, and said, “Oh no, that’s a different kettle of fish.” The first time she managed to smile.

The workshop was trashed by a young girl who had met the dead boy on the ferry. The one who had a fight with Michael. Oh, we have been told his name now, it will probably eventually appear in the Shetland Times. His name was Robbie Morton. The girl was one of the witnesses to the fight and approached Robbie afterwards. She had thought Michael killed Robbie, thrown him unconscious into the crate. Apparently she has been coming to Jimmy a lot about this. She thought she might find a clue about Robbie in Freya’s workshop. I don’t know how, Freya hadn’t met Robbie.

Mum asked how do they know it was this girl. Freya said she and Michael found some cola drop lollies on the floor. Yes these are actual lollies, not drugs. The girl eats them. She had some when Michael once gave her a lift. As he dropped her off, she said something about Robbie to him. Michael had noticed her hanging around a few times, and at first wondered why but just ignored her till now. He went out to confront her about the workshop, and was spotted then chased by the killer. The girl was shot as well, but because she wasn't the target, her wounds were not deep, and she's alive. She is now in hospital of course.

Mum asked why this girl was going through all this trouble over someone she had just met. Jimmy said he had asked this to the girl herself. It sounds like a love at first sight. The girl was so smitten with Robbie that she is determined to find his killer.

And of course the big question. Could Michael have still killed Robbie and why? Are the two deaths connected? Jimmy has a gut feeling they are, but they need evidence.

Another thing that saddens Mum. One of the things that the police have managed to find out about Michael is that his shady past goes back to Glasgow. Well he worked there sometimes. Did someone from the old nasty gang spot him? He should have transferred all his business to Aberdeen – or to Shetland. Whatever that business really is, if he was under witness protection.

This gang is obviously in Glasgow, or has ties there. Due to this, Jimmy has to go there. Tosh is going with him. They don’t know how long they will have to be there. Rhona the big boss is already there. She left as soon as this was found out.*

Amongst all the mayhem, Mum did make another attempt with Jimmy. She called out to him as he and Tosh were leaving. Jimmy said, “Yes I know, we’ve got to get together on the boat sometime. I know I’ve been running away a lot with this case. But I won’t forget.” Won’t forget?** Does he mean we all go on the boat, or has he read her letter and is finally talking about a date with her?

Freya called out to him, “Don’t keep the lady waiting too long, Jimmy!” She managed to giggle and think of Mum, even after what she has been through herself.  
After a lot of persuasion, Mum convinced Freya she shouldn’t spend tonight alone. She asked was she fit to drive. We could all hop on the bus together. Freya said she could drive alright, and it was dark now, so we all climbed into her station-wagon. Mum rang Miriam.

So Mum hopes there are not too many problems in Glasgow. I hope this means Shetland will go back to its normal peaceful self. But we did hear some good news on the TV. The boy in hospital got a kidney transplant and has pulled through.

Your BFF Jermaine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *We know that Rhona isn't just in Glasgow because of the case. She's gone to see Phyllis.
> 
> **Sadly, Jimmy will temporarily forget his promise to Caprice. Who does he meet in Glasgow?


	5. Jimmy's absense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimmy is away in Glasgow and Caprice hasn't heard from him. Freya is still finding things out about Michael.

Dear Alex

The last two weeks have been like an eternity. I’ve been getting on with my everday stuff, going to work, Jermaine goes to school. I’ve told Freya to contact me anytime she needs to. She knows I can’t take calls during work, so just leaves a voicemail message if she needs to ring during that time.

She is doing her work in some old shed at the back of her house. She’s not ready to work back in the workshop, partly because it makes her think of Michael and cry, but also she wants it left as it is for now in case she notices something that might be a clue for Jimmy. She sometimes wanders in for that.

She did find something the other day. I don’t know why that girl had to trash her workshop so. OK, she might want to move things around the place if she thought she was going to find out something about Robbie, but break Freya’s answering machine? Freya noticed it when she was picking up the phone to ring me. The phone itself is fine; she was able to use it to ring Jimmy when she first discovered the mess.

The tape on the answering machine looked like it had been tampered with. Freya played it to see if it still worked. It is wrecked, but bits and pieces of a message from Michael could be heard through the crackles.

She’s since taken the tape to the police station and given it to Billy. She couldn’t work out what the message was about, but she heard the words “Burns” and “Level Nine.” Level 9? I told her it sounds like a pop group. That made her chuckle. We even joked about could Michael be in a pop group many years ago? At least she is able to laugh.

She went on to mention that she asked what Michael’s real name was. Witness protection clients often have to change names and whole identities. His name was Michael, but his surname was Thompson, not MacGuire.

I haven’t heard from Jimmy. I just wonder how bad and intense is this case in Glasgow. I have texted him a few times, and received no reply. I don’t really want to send another one, I don’t want to bug him. But he has said nothing about my letter. And I guess the last time I saw him was when Michael had just been killed, so not a good time. I wonder if I should send one more text to mention the letter, then I will send no more.

I mentioned this to Freya. She thought it a bit strange, but then the case does sound very indepth. She is hoping Jimmy will find out more about the witness protection issue. Amidst her own grief she still senses my angst about Jimmy. While I was on the phone to her during my lunchbreak, she said she was going to the station this Friday to ask if the specialists had made any sense of Michael’s last message. She suggested I come with her, and there in passing conversation with Billy or Sandy I could ask when Jimmy will be returning. If he returns in the meantime then he will be there unless he gets rushed to another suspicious scene. She will pick me up from work.

So – I’ll send you another email on the weekend, let you know how it all goes.  
Love Caprice.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-  
CAPRICE’S TEXTS TO JIMMY

Hi Jimmy. I didn’t have a chance to talk much with all the goings-on. I wanted to ask if you have read my letter. I left it in your letterbox 2 days before Michael died. Love Caprice.

Hi Jimmy. Is all ok? Is the case bad? Did you get my text? I won’t ring as I don’t want to disturb your investigation. Love Caprice.

Hi Jimmy. I haven’t heard from you, so I will say what my letter said. I am in love with you. Please respond. Your Caprice.

Hi Jimmy. You are obviously bogged down in your case. Or not interested. I won’t text again. But get back to Shetland as soon as you can. If you’re not interested, say so. Your Caprice.


	6. Leanne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caprice goes with Freya to the station to ask if Jimmy is back. She is then given a new task - to meet Leanne.

Dear Alex  
Well, Jimmy isn’t back in Shetland. I don’t know what’s going on in Glasgow. But Rhona is back. And gave me a new task and a new friend.

As planned, Freya picked me up from work. We were to drop into the station, Freya would afterwards leave to do some things in town, and I would pick Jermaine up from the library. Jermaine is now starting to ask if she and Sarah can go late night shopping together, by themselves. They think they should be old enough. Both Deidre and I have said we guess they will have to do it one day, but not now. Not while there’s this drug problem and not knowing whether Michael’s killer is still in Shetland.

We arrived at the station. Billy greeted us with “Ah, my two favourite ladies!” Freya asked about the progress of the voicemail. They have found something out. Level 9 was a nightclub in Glasgow, some time in the 90’s. It’s an old derelict building now. Tosh went to inspect it with one of the Glasgow cops. What it has to do with Michael they are still trying to find that out.

I started chatting to Billy and asked about Jimmy. Before Billy could answer, Rhona appeared. I thought, well if she’s back, surely Jimmy is. But no. She explained Jimmy was still on the case. Not just dealing with thugs that used to have connections with Michael but also the Witness Protection Team themselves. 

She tried to appease me. She said Jimmy could come back any time and have to head off to Glasgow again. He may not have time to contact people, and I’m not to take it to heart. I wonder if she’s sensed how I feel about him.

She then went on to say, “Caprice, I actually wanted to see you. I have a job for you.”

“A job for me?” I gasped. “I have a job in Shetland Transport.” Back in Australia, if one worked for the government, we had to get permission to have another job outside work. I don’t know whether that is the same rule for temps.

Rhona laughed. “It’s not a paid job. Just something I thought you might like and be good at. There’s a girl called Leanne that Jimmy has been in liaison with. She was caught in the crossfire when Michael was shot and received a few shots herself. She’s alright, but has been in hospital of course. She’s out now, but still not 100%, so Jimmy asked Grace in the old folks home if she was happy to have Leanne reside there until she’s back to her normal self.”

Freya and I immediately worked out who Leanne is. I spoke up before Freya. “Is she the one who trashed Freya’s workshop?” Not sure if I wanted to meet her!  
Rhona said, “Don’t take her too harshly, either of you. Yes it was wrong what she did, but as you probably know, she was linked with the young man who died on the ferry, and went to extremes to find things out about him. She just went overboard. She’s not a bad person. Jimmy wouldn’t spend time with her if she was.”

“And what am I to do with her?”

“She could do with some visitors. I wonder how she’s coping being surround by all those old people, and I think a visit from someone like you would help. And from Jermaine, who’s young. I thought Jermaine would enjoy it too. I gather she misses Cassie.”

“Yes she does.” I then turned to Freya. “The first thing I will do is get her to write you a letter of apology.” Freya smiled then went off to do her business.

Rhona gave me the address of the old folks home then went to her office to call Grace the manager and inform her of my visit. As she did so, she concluded, “Thank you Caprice. This will be a great help to Jimmy, and I know that means a lot to you.” I wonder if she’s cottoned onto my feelings for Jimmy.

I was about to leave when Billy said, “Wait Caprice, you have a chauffeur.”

“Billy, you don’t need to give me a lift. You can’t expect the young cops to look after your front desk all the time.”

“Oh no, not me. The young man is on his way.”

He turned to the inside of the station. I could see Sandy approaching with a young man of about 20.

“Sandy?” I asked.

“No, the boy with him,” replied Billy. “That’s Craig, Jenny’s cousin. He works at the home. He has an evening shift tonight. Apparently Robbie also worked in the home, and the two of them had some involvement in the drug scene. Craig came in to complete his statement.”  
“Oh dear. He’s not here just to see Sandy.”

“Well he is seeing Sandy, but not on a social visit. Craig wasn’t as heavily involved in it as Robbie was, but enough to get frightened and finally come clean.”  
“I’m sure Sandy would be an influence on that.”

“He doesn’t always listen to Sandy. A few frights from the baddies knocked sense into him. But I’m sure he’ll tell you the details.”

“Billy, he doesn’t know me, why would he tell me things like that?”

 

“Because you’re Jimmy’s friend.”

I sighed. “When will Jimmy be back? He hasn’t answered my texts.”

“Oh Caprice. When he gets caught up in cases, he gets caught up. Try to be patient.”

But now, Sandy had emerged with Craig. Sandy spoke: “Craig, this is Caprice, the lady to whom you’re giving a lift. She’s a friend of Jimmy’s and a very nice lady. Make sure you behave, and look after her.” Craig smirked. 

“You’re very kind,” I said politely. “Before we go to the home, I need to pick up my daughter from the library. It’s here in the CBD, as you’d know, so I hope it doesn’t make the trip too much longer. I don’t want you to be late for work.”

Craig smiled. “That’s fine, the library’s close. It won’t make a difference.”

“I promise I just need to grab Jermaine and come straight out.”

 

“The extra drive will keep him out of mischief,” smirked Sandy.

Craig may have done a few ratbaggish things, especially with the way Sandy was looking at him, but he seemed friendly enough when I talked to him in the car – even with Jermaine chiming in with odd comments. But Robbie was definitely a seedy character.

Robbie was a drug mule. He started by stealing medicinal drugs from the cabinets in the home – tablets that were meant for the old people’s aches and pains. Nobody would have suspected because Robbie always put up a jovial front and made all the oldies love him. He must have used that similar charm on Leanne.  
The medicinal drugs moved onto the hard illegal stuff. Craig admitted that he got curious about Robbie and jealous of him making so much dough. He asked to be part of the action, and was even in Aberdeen with him. Craig was even on the ferry but he and Robbie kept distance from each other so as not to cause any suspicions. Robbie had a secret compartment at the bottom of his backpack to hide the ecstacy pills. Yes, the very ones that the little boy consumed. Craig had found the bag lying by itself – Robbie must have gone missing by then – and grabbed it before anyone else did and may notice the contents. The bag fell out of his van on his way home and onto the beach. Some of the pills fell out. Not such a secret compartment after all.

After Robbie died, the drug pushers came to Shetland to demand money he owed. As he was no longer here, the pushers turned to Craig. Even planted a rifle in his van, both to frighten and frame him. That’s when he had had enough, came clean and reported it to Jimmy. I advised him that making loads of money isn’t everything, and why do something illegal to get it. Not just the fear of the pushers, but look what happened to the little boy, who had nothing to do with it. Oh yes, Craig realises.

I asked Craig if he knew anything about Leanne or Michael. He didn’t know anything about Michael. Leanne he had seen at a distance with Robbie on the ferry, but he hadn’t actually met her. She has only just come to the home, so he hadn’t seen her there yet.

Like a lot of young people, Craig thinks of travelling – a bit further than Aberdeen and for a holiday and nothing illegal. He asked a few questions about Australia, and like most people here, how we got to live in Shetland.

Another interesting thing – Craig’s grandmother lives in the home. Bella. When we arrived at the home, the first thing Craig wanted to do was see her before starting his work. He wanted to introduce me and Jermaine. She seems a lovely old lady, but Craig told me she hasn’t been herself. She’s been having a few nightmares lately, and there is this crotchety old guy who gives her a hard time. Grace keeps an eye on him. I did notice some nasty looking guy peeping from his room. His name is Alec.  
Craig then took me to Grace, who took me to Leanne. Leanne was sitting in bed, looking chirpy, but we could see she had been through the wars. She is about the same age as Cassie, even looks a little like her, the long dark hair and big doe-like grey-blue eyes.

Grace introduced us: “This is Caprice, the lady I was telling you about, and her daughter Jermaine.”

We then got chatting. I asked how she was feeling, how she was recovering after that shock of a bullet. She asked a bit about Australia. She said it would be nice to travel there, and she was actually going to do a bit of travelling when she decided to come to Shetland from Aberdeen. She works as a cleaner in a hotel, and had a bit of leave up her sleeve, so decided spur-of-the-moment to hop onto the ferry. 

She was going to work out her trip as she went along. Then she met Robbie on the ferry, and was expecting to spend some time in Lerwick with him. But then his fate. It was actually Leanne who first reported him missing, but the police couldn’t do much until they found his backpack on the beach, which had some identity.  
I pondered. “The one that Craig was telling us about?” The very one. I nearly said “The one with the drugs in it?” but then Leanne is recovering from near-death, and I didn’t want to paint a black picture of her recently deceased boyfriend.

I then went on to talking about Freya. Sick as she was, I had to scold in a subtle way, and make her write the apology. I was even prepared to help. But Leanne seemed to understand what I was getting at, and wrote it willingly. Jimmy visited her in hospital just before he went to Glasgow, and told her of Michael’s murder. So she is content to accept now that Michael wasn’t Robbie’s killer. But then she will ask, as we all are, who is?

Jimmy gave her a book of Shetland folklore. She showed it to us, it looks so fascinating I must say. Jermaine wanted to look at it while I helped Leanne with Freya’s letter. Then I left the two girls together to talk about young people’s stuff while I had a quick chat with Grace. I asked bits and pieces about the home, and when should I do subsequent visits. We decided I will come every Friday night. It is late night shopping if I need to do anything afterwards. And Jermaine will come too, unless she has something planned with Deidre and Sarah. But I think she will enjoy coming here. Leanne does remind her of Cassie. And she has always liked old people, so can talk to the other residents.

So, something else to keep us busy. Keep me occupied while Jimmy is away. Maybe that’s what Rhona was thinking. And yes, when I had coffee with Freya today I made sure I passed on the letter. Freya was grateful.

So until next time.  
Love Caprice.

 

LEANNE’S LETTER TO FREYA

Dear Freya

I know I owe you an explanation. I know my actions have been rash, and I must say sorry. Please let me explain.

When I first met Robbie on the ferry I saw him fighting with Michael. Robbie fell over in the squabble so I came to his aid. We got chatting, and I felt a bond, but still he didn’t want to say what the fight with Michael was about.

When I woke at the time that the ferry arrived in Lerwick, Robbie wasn’t next to me, nor was his bag but I sensed something was wrong. I sensed that he hadn’t gotten off the ferry, so must be missing. I had made such a bond that I needed to find him. Michael was my only clue. I saw the picture of his rings on the ad for your exhibition, so I knew what to tell Jimmy.

From your website I found out where your shop was, and your workshop and saw Michael there. I wanted to confront him about Robbie. Then Robbie’s body was found, and I felt more desperate to find out what happened.

Oh yes, Jimmy told me to stay away, but I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know where Michael was living or working, so it was your workshop I went to, to try to find clues. I became beside myself, I started turning the place upside down, but of course found nothing. Caprice tells me your answering machine was wrecked. I must have tossed it in the air while I was looking for clues. I didn’t mean to break it.

Now Michael is gone, and I was nearly gone too, under the hands of the same killer. Just before Michael was chastising me about thinking he was Robbie’s killer. I don’t know what link the two had, but I now realise Michael is innocent. And I certainly never meant any harm to you.

I would happily help you tidy up your workshop, but I am still bedridden, and Caprice said you wanted to leave it in case you found anything to show Jimmy. I am thinking of you. We now have both lost someone close to us. Please accept my condolences for Michael.

Yours Sincerely

Leanne Randall


	7. Three Australians in Shetland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caprice's cousin Angeline Thorngate arrives in Lerwick and spends the night at Caprice's house before heading off to conferences. Caprice notices Jimmy's car and realises he is back. She is chatted up by Calvin. Freya has told her she is meeting Michael's Witness Protection Officer. Caprice will find out in the next chapter, that is not all Asha is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is something different in my story to that in the TV Series. The meeting of Calvin and Jimmy in Jimmy's car. In the TV Series, this takes place in Glasgow, but in my story it takes place in Lerwick. This is to fit in with Calvin's first meeting with Caprice. Actually when I saw this particular episode first time, I thought it was in Shetland, as Jimmy flits back and forth, but when I watched it again, I realised it is in Glasgow.
> 
> Also another thing I noticed when watching Series 3. I never saw Jimmy read a text on his phone. He and his colleagues (and Cassie) always rang each other. I guess if you're investigating you would want to get onto each other immediately. This plays a part in my story. Jimmy always answers his phone immediately as it could be another clue discovered. But he doesn't always check his texts. So he hasn't noticed Caprice's texts.
> 
> When I watched the first series again, I did notice him look at a text, and in Series 4, Cassie texts him to say she's left Brazil. But I didn't notice in Series 3. Tell me if you do.

ANGELINE’S LETTER

Dear Caprice

It’s me, your cousin Angeline. Yes, I am in Scotland. I’ve got your details, Alex gave them to me.

I have been travelling around UK giving conferences to law students at various unis. I started in London of course, and have been to Oxford, Cambridge, Birmingham and Manchester. I’m waiting for the big guys to send me elsewhere, but I was asked to come to Glasgow and Edinburgh – the two big Scottish cities.

They’ve allowed me one day to myself between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I thought I would take that day in Lerwick, if you are free. I know you’re working but maybe the evening together. I could even pick up Jermaine early.

Please email or text and let me know of your movements. My conference in Glasgow is tomorrow. You will be interested to know that one of the people I met here amongst the Law Society people is Rhona Kelly. I believe she’s the Fiscal of the Lerwick police station, the boss of this Jimmy that you’ve told me about. If I’m right, she’s back in Lerwick, but your Jimmy is solving a case down here. He’d be all tied up with the police, so I won’t have a chance to meet him.

Anyway, contact asap. Love to Jermaine.  
All my love, Angeline.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Angeline Thorngate arrives at Sumburgh Airport. In the crowd coming off the plane, she notices an old familiar face from law school days, one she doesn’t like. Calvin Sawar tries to get her attention, but she runs away to find her taxi.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Dear Marie

A fun day today! Lots of things happening, and good things for a change.

Mum’s cousin Angeline arrived today. She will stay with us for tonight, and head off for Edinburgh tomorrow. We will all ride in the airport bus together, so we can see her off personally. Mum has let work know she will be a little late, and also let school know for me.

Aunty Ange offered to pick me up at the library, give her a break to maybe do a few extra things in town. I wondered if I would recognise her. She is a retired lawyer, a very busy lady, and even back in Adelaide, we didn’t get to see her much. When she was working she was the stereotyped career woman, being tied up in her caught cases, and after she retired, tutoring law students in uni. 

This isn’t the first time she’s been in Scotland. After she graduated – yeah decades ago, I tease her and Mum about their age – she did international post-graduate law studies in Oxford, and that involved various activities in other unis in the UK. One of them was Glasgow. She was involved in the Law Debate Club in Glasgow Uni. Sometimes she goes overseas to attend conferences or be a guest lecturer at various unis. This is what she has been doing now.

Very smart lady, but Mum says it would give her a headache if she tried to do what Aunty Ange does. She is content with simpler work, even though she studied Maths at uni when she was young. Me, I haven’t worked out what I want to do, but I think being an artist like Freya would be fun.

I did recognise her! She looks very similar to Mum, as I remembered, but with blonde hair. The last time I would have seen her would have been at Dad’s funeral, and of course with all the upset everything then was a bit of a blur. I called out to her “Aunty Ange,” and she made a bit of noise back to me, then we had to remember that we were in a library. But the librarian knows me well, and understood this was a relative I haven’t seen for yonks. Aunty Ange commented on how much I have grown.  
Ange’s taxi was waiting outside. I had to hurriedly pack everything so as not to bump up the metre too much. Even though Aunty Ange is rolling in the dosh, as most lawyers are, I don’t want to use up too much of her money, and Mum would tell me off in doing so. We went home, and dropped in on Miriam until Mum got home.  
Well Mum was looking flushed and excited. After hugging Aunty Ange, the first thing she said was “Jimmy’s back!”

Jimmy is finally back in Shetland, though Mum hasn’t spoken to him yet. She saw him at a distance in his car. And a very interesting encounter happened afterwards. Not with Jimmy, but with the person who got out of his car. Mum would have probably chased after Jimmy’s car if the other person hadn’t approached her.  
He commented how he noticed her call out “Jimmy!” and started asking questions about her and how she knows Jimmy. He then noticed her accent, and wait for this, he asked if she was Australian and if by chance she knew Angeline Thorngate, possibly related to her as she has similar looks.

Aunty Ange was looking a bit concerned at this point. She knew who this guy was even before Mum said his name. He is a lawyer from Glasgow called Calvin Sawar. Tall and swarthy and distinguished-looking was the way Mum described him, and of Indian origin. As he is a legal person, Mum asked if he was helping with the case, and he replied yes. He was polite and charming, but Mum sensed something about him that wasn’t quite right. Aunty Ange said, “You have every reason to think that. I knew him back at Glasgow Uni.” 

As it was getting dark, what with the White Nights finished, Aunty Ange asked if we could walk along the beach for the twilight hours. It isn’t often she gets to do this. As we walked, I was ahead of Mum and Aunty Ange, but I heard them chat. Mum was eager to talk about Jimmy, but Ange wanted to talk about Calvin. Wondering why?

Ange met Calvin in the Debate Club at Glasgow Uni. He, along with other young male students, had a bit of a crush on her, being the older post-graduate student from overseas. They looked up to her so she got to know quite a few students in the club. But just like Mum, on her first meeting with Calvin, she sensed something not quite right. Even as a student, before he became a proper lawyer, he was a bit of a wheeler-dealer in various things that she couldn’t put her finger on. He knew how to manipulate other students into doing favours for him but managed to use his good looks to make himself look like some sort of hero so people were easily conned by him. That’s how she described him, it sort of makes sense.

Since he has established his law firm, he is a very well-known lawyer in Glasgow, but not necessarily for the right reasons. He has represented local Glasgow celebrities, but they were not what we would call real celebrities. I wouldn’t have heard of them, and I doubt Mum would. They were small-time actors and sportsmen trying to make a name for themselves. Do some outrageous act like cause a fight to get publicity, then have any charges dropped due to Calvin stepping in. 

Calvin has also been known to represent gangsters in court. Doesn’t make him very likeable, but Mum did comment that somebody would have to do it. She said, “Surely Angeline you have sometimes had to defend some crim that you didn’t want to.”

“That is true,” said Ange. “But there is a difference between making sure a guilty person has a fair trial but still getting some sort of punishment, and letting them off completely.”

Ange also mentioned that she had seen Calvin at the airport when she arrived. He tried to get her attention but she ran off. Mum said he had told her he had been back and forth from Glasgow. Like Jimmy. So, what involvement would he have in the case of Michael’s murder? Yes, Michael was originally from Glasgow, but surely there would be better lawyers? Well that would be what Jimmy is trying to find out. Though Mum commented that it was strange that Jimmy would consult a lawyer with a bad reputation. He was a righteous policeman who would want to deal with other righteous people. Yes, one of the reasons why she fell in love with him.

Talking of Michael, Mum had other news. As she left Calvin to catch her bus, she noticed on her phone that Freya had left a message, asking to call her asap. Apparently Jimmy has been back in Shetland for a week and has organised for Michael’s Witness Protection Officer to come and talk to Freya. As expected, the officer is from Glasgow. Her name is Asha Israni. She is staying at the Lighthouse Hotel, and Freya is going there tonight. Mum asked Freya why she isn’t coming to her home. Freya wanted to go to different surroundings to talk about it, hence Asha’s hotel room. Mum usually sees Freya on Saturdays when I’m at Drama School, but Freya wants her to go and see her tomorrow after work to talk about this meeting. She doesn’t know what she is going to get out of it.

I’ve been told to go with Miriam after school tomorrow. Freya wants a heart-to-heart. I don’t know if there would be any yukky details about Michael that Mum wouldn’t want me to hear, but I am getting older and can handle them.

Mum also commented that Jimmy hasn’t contacted her since he’s been back. She didn’t know he had been back a week. Freya was a bit surprised to hear this, but said to Mum that maybe he really is wrapped up in the investigation, and had the meeting with Asha to organise.

When it was finally dark we got back home, had tea, then prepared for tomorrow. I’d better sign off now if I am to be up early to go to the airport.  
Love Jermaine

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Calvin is talking to Jimmy in Jimmy’s car about Arthur McCall. He has for some time been trying to lure Jimmy away from thinking Arthur is a suspect for Michael’s murder, but knows Arthur’s reputation. 

Calvin: He is not a client I wish to represent, nor is he a client I want to offend. (Pause). And by the way, I heard what happened to your colleague. I’m very sorry.  
Jimmy: You will be available if I want to contact you again?

Calvin: I’m going back to Glasgow tonight. You can contact my office. But there’s nothing more I can tell you.

Calvin gets out of the car. Jimmy is about to drive off when he notices Caprice coming out of work. He thinks, “Ah, a friend I need to get in touch with. I promised her I would.“ But he still doesn't know of her feelings. The letter she sent him is still hidden amongst his files, and he was so caught up in everything in Glasgow that he hasn’t checked his texts. It hasn’t occurred to him that this could be the right woman for him. At the moment he is enamoured with Asha.

He then notices Calvin approaching her and becomes concerned. He wonders whether to go and intervene, offer Caprice a lift to town, but Caprice’s bus arrives.


	8. The Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caprice and Jermaine see Asha and Jimmy together at the airport. Caprice is heartbroken. She shuns Jimmy when he offers her a lift. She and Freya have a heart-to-heart.
> 
> Jimmy finally finds Caprice's letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now I've come to the stage in my story where Caprice finds out about Asha. And interesting it coincides with the new series of the real Shetland - with another rival for Jimmy's affections. It will be a while before I can get the DVD, and even longer probably when it screens on Australian TV, so I tried to see if I could see the episodes on my computer. I managed after a lot of struggling to do it. I've watched the first 2 episodes and the picture on Episode 1 was back-to-front. I could tell by the writing. Now we Aussies live in the upside-down part of the world, is that why it was back-to-front?
> 
> I had an an original story for my Part 4, but to keep up with the goings-on of the real Shetland I will need to make changes. I don't know whether it will all fit in Part 4 or if Hope is not Lost will be Part 5. If so, then Part 4 will be - THE ALICE PERIOD!

Dear Alex

It is with great difficulty that I write this email. Someone my age should be able to come to terms with this, but I cannot. Jimmy has met someone else.  
We saw it with our own eyes. Both Jermaine and I. Just as well Angeline had gone into transit for her flight. I wouldn’t want her getting worried over me. She still would, like I was a little kids. Maybe I am when it comes to the heart.

We all got up early, Angeline got her bag packed, I had my work stuff, Jermaine had her schoolbag, and we were off. We caught the bus to town, and from there hopped onto the airport bus. Jermaine and I had return tickets. We were all high spirits. Angeline promised to visit again as soon as she could. And with all her jet-setting I think she can.

We walked her to the transit door for the Edinburgh flight. She left us, we turned to leave the airport – and that’s when we saw it!

I don’t know who saw it first, me or Jermaine. And who gasped first! Jimmy with a woman by the transit door for the Glasgow flight. She looked Indian, sleek immaculate hair, black suit. We saw them kiss, we saw him stroke her hair and exchange a few words before she left.

Stunned! Shocked! Yes, devastated. Now you may say Jimmy can choose whom he wants, and you can’t blame him if he doesn’t know of my feelings. But he should! My letter! My texts! Why didn’t he reply to them? Is he a coward? How can he be when he deals with big ugly cases every day?

We started running out quickly as I could. Jermaine was concerned about me bursting into tears. I don’t know if it was concern for me, or her getting embarrassed with a crying mum.

Jimmy saw us. He called out to us, we ignored him. I noticed him say something to some young blonde girl before running after us, who was either a witness to the case or a young cop.* We tried to outrun him, tried to look as though we thought we would miss our bus. But he caught up.

He asked why the hurry. I said bluntly we had a bus to catch. He offered us a lift, went on to say he was giving a lift to the young girl, a witness called Kelly, but he could take us too. I held up my ticket and said we can’t waste them.

He then noticed I was on the verge of crying. Of course he asked what was wrong. I said, “Why couldn’t you have just replied to my letter and said you’re not interested. You never replied, never said anything about it before you left for Glasgow! You didn’t reply to my texts.”

Jimmy looked at me blankly. “Letter? Texts?”

“Oh come on Jimmy, you must have received them. I said how I feel about you. I’ve been trying to tell you for ages but you kept running off on your cases. And after not hearing anything from you I find out the hard way. I see you with someone else.”

Before Jimmy could say anything, Jermaine nudged me to indicate the bus had come. He was still looking blank. As we got on the bus, he asked when did I send the letter.

Through tears, I replied, “I put it in your letterbox that night you were throwing dishes and yelling for the love of Christ. I arrived the same time as Rhona. She told me you needed space because you were stressed and I should leave.” 

I hurried onto the bus after Jermaine. I looked back out of the corner of my eye. He stood motionless for a moment before going back to Kelly. Hasn’t he seen the letter? He must have. If he lost the letter, then what about the texts?

I ploughed through my work, buried myself into it to try to get my mind off Jimmy. Of course Deidre noticed I was quiet. She knows me well enough to suspect it was something to do with Jimmy. We went into a meeting room alone in our lunchbreak, so I could tell her what happened. She tried to appease me by saying Jimmy is a dirty ratbag and a creep. Not have the guts to be honest with me. Dirty ratbag? The majority of the Shetland population would not agree.

That’s it. Jimmy always appeared to be a kind and righteous man. The concern he showed his staff, his affection for Cassie. Just what exactly did he think of me? Am I a boring middleaged bag? Did he take us on the boat because he felt sorry for Jermaine. Or because Jermaine is Cassie’s friend?

I promised to see Freya after work alone, while Jermaine went with Deidre and Miriam. She could see I’d been crying. Oh I felt like a guilty fool, when her situation is far worse. But still, like a friend, she wanted to know what was wrong. And so I told her.

When I described the woman, Freya immediately knew who she was. It made sense. An Indian woman in a black suit with Jimmy, heading for Glasgow. Asha Israni. The Witness Protection Officer.

No wonder Jimmy didn’t respond to my texts. He’d met someone else and probably thinks I’m a silly bat. He probably had a good laugh.

And how did Freya find Asha? Stiff and professional, matter-of-fact. I guess she would have to be. Freya isn’t sure whether the meeting helped her or not, but she found out a few more things about Michael.

The Witness Protection were going to send him to Canada. He was meant to leave earlier but he wanted time to tell Freya, tell her himself about the Witness Protection and ask her to come to Canada with him. Freya was taken aback by the Canada business. It appeared that Michael was being shunned anywhere, and she was expected to tag along and try to fit in a country of which she knows very little. She thought it sounded all quite arrogant. She even mentioned that she doesn’t speak French so how would she go in Canada? I advised they do speak English too.

Michael had also written Freya a letter, and given it to Asha to pass onto Freya, in case anything happened to him. It explained why he was on Witness Protection. Incidents that happened in Level 9. What sort of seedy things could happen in a nightclub? It is a place for young people who might get a bit silly and drunk, but they’re not gangsters. Freya replied, “No, but the guys who ran it were. That’s what Michael was talking about.”

Michael talked of the club being owned by someone called Arthur McCall. He had some involvement with why Michael was in this protection program but he didn’t elaborate. Something he probably discussed with Asha. He didn’t say why he had gone to jail. Makes us wonder if he had really done something wrong or was he set up by McCall or another gangster, or merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Another thing Freya found out about Michael – not from Asha, but from Jimmy. From his investigation in Glasgow. Robbie Morton was Michael’s son. That would explain the fight on the ferry. Because Michael was in witness protection, he couldn’t let anything happen to Robbie so pushed him away. Like he had to be cruel to be kind.

So I will now try to sleep. I tried to eat tea, tried not to drink too much. No chance of that, Jermaine would tell me off. But she knows I’m hurt. She looks sad too. I have wondered how she would feel about a stepdad, but she appeared like she was starting to like the idea of having Jimmy as her new dad. And she would certainly love Cassie as a sister. Now she won’t.

Try not to fret too much over me, Alex. I’ll write again.  
Love Caprice.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONVERSATION OF FREYA AND CAPRICE

Freya: What you described? That’s Asha. Asha Israni.

Caprice: The Witness Protection Officer. Well, seeing you wasn’t the only reason she came to Shetland.

Freya: Oh Caprice I’m so sorry.

Caprice: Freya, your upset is far greater.

Freya: But you’re still upset. You still need to grieve. I’m here for you like you are for me.

Caprice: Why didn’t he reply to my letter and texts? Everyone raves about how kind he is.

Freya: I find it strange too. There must be an explanation of some sort.

Caprice: What has she got that I haven’t?

Freya: Caprice you are a lovely person, Jimmy’s stupid not to see that. But I guess things happen. They were working on the case together, probably spent time in Glasgow. They have something in common, both being police officers in the investigation line.

Caprice: Oh god, something in common with careers. Do I have to become a policewoman to attract him? How would I go as a policewoman, the stress? And when I was young, I found men didn’t like clever women. I liked a guy who married someone else. A friend said, “Oh they have something in common, they’ve both been to uni.” I said “But I have a uni degree, and that’s why he rejected me.”

Freya: Then if you think he liked dumb women, why did he marry this one with a degree?

Caprice: Because she was from a rich family.

Freya: A gold-digger?

Caprice: No, a social climber. He wasn’t after her father’s money, he was after social status.

Freya: Well that’s just as bad. Not for the right reasons.

Caprice: I guess I know that now. Didn’t make it easier.

Freya: Now Caprice, what about Mick? Was he like that?

Caprice: Well, no.

Freya: He loved you.

Caprice: Yes.

Freya: Try to think of him. Like I think of my Michael. Think of him, he was the one who did love you. He’s worth it.  
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-__________________________________________________________________________________  
When Jimmy gets home, he scuttles through all his files on the case. He is looking for Caprice’s letter. He finally finds it and reads it. He fumbles through the texts on his phone to find Carprice's. Now he is confused. He has met Asha. Another man would shrug, “Oh well, I didn’t know when I met Asha. Sorry. The way things are.” But Jimmy can’t. Why?

Duncan, who has been boarding with jimmy after fighting with Mary, comes home, and sees Jimmy holding the letter. He glances and sees it is from Caprice.

Jimmy: Did you know that Caprice likes me?

Duncan: I had my suspicions.

Jimmy: You didn’t say anything. All those time you talk of me finding a woman and you didn’t say anything.

Duncan: Caprice and I aren’t exactly bosom buddies. She may not have wanted me to. I thought she’d say something herself.

Jimmy: She’d been trying to, but I have been bogged down in this case.

Duncan: You spend too much time with your work, Jimmy. We all say that. Anyway, you’re seeing Asha now, aren’t you?

Jimmy: Yes, but..............................................


	9. Hanging in There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stroll along the beach to help everyone feel better.

Dear Marie

For the last week Mum has been sad, I’ve noticed it. I am sad with her. Jimmy met someone else. It turns out to be Michael’s Witness Protection Officer. Yep, that Asha woman.

We both try to keep going day by day, similar to how we did when Dad died. But Mum cries at night. Another broken heart. Her birthday will come soon. I hope the Halloween celebrations lift our spirits.

We did our usual Friday evening visit to Leanne at the nursing home. I was hoping that Craig would be doing a shift there, and he was. I could do with someone to talk to about all this. Of course I am affected in a different way. I will always remember Dad, but I always liked Jimmy. Fun on the boat. He let me steer it sometimes. He always showed interest in me. He seemed interested in Mum. But not that kinds of interest. There have been times when I felt a father figure would be good to have around. Jimmy would have certainly been the next best thing to Dad.

We took Leanne in a wheelchair for a walk along the beach. Craig came along with Bella in a wheelchair. Craig wanted Mum to talk about Jimmy. At first she kept saying, “You don’t want to hear the woes of an old lady.” But he insisted. And so did Leanne.

Leanne seemed to become agitated about Mum’s heartbreak, making comments of how could he prefer someone else to a lovely lady like Caprice. Mum, heartbroken as she is, had to reply that we can’t hold a knife at Jimmy’s throat and tell him who to go out with. Craig jokingly told Mum that he would marry her. Mum chucked, “If I was 30 years younger.” At least Craig made her laugh as I knew he would. He may have dabbled a bit in drug dealing with Robbie, but still seems to be a caring person.   
Craig took Bella out of her wheelchair to take her for a walk. Mum took Leanne out and sat her on the beach. I sat on the other side of Leanne. Mum said, “I guess we are all enduring broken hearts, you, me and Freya. I try to tell myself that you two had it worse. No doubt you’re mourning Robbie.”  
“Yeah, I am. I’d only just met him but......”

“You bonded. Brief but passionate encounter.”

“Something like that. If it wasn’t Michael who killed him, will they find out who?”

“I’m sure Jimmy’s doing everything he can. That’s when he’s not.......” Mum stopped and tried to fight back tears. The mention of Jimmy’s name will set her back.  
By then, Craig and Bella had come back from their little walk. Craig heard the last part and chimed in “The police. The police are doing everything they can.”  
“Sandy?” I asked.

“Aye, Sandy, though he’s not the boss and wouldn’t call the shots. But help with solving the murders, aye, he’ll be there.”

“There,” said Leanne. “If that makes it easy we’ll say Sandy is doing everything he can.”

Mum managed a smile. “And from what I’ve heard he’s a good worker.”

Leanne watched Bella walk back to her wheelchair and knows that she’s got to try walking again. Craig joked that when she does we will take her and Bella to the beach to run a marathon together.

Then it was time to get the residents back to the home and Mum and I caught our bus. We waved to Mary from a distance and Miriam when we got home. She was in the front garden. 

We both made a comment to each other about Mary. She looked very sad tonight. I mean she often looks sad, what with putting up with Duncan’s rotten behaviour. But she looked even sadder tonight. And we’ve also noticed that the Hunter household has been very quiet. No arguing. No noises, no weird women running away when they think Mary’s coming. It is very quiet and dark. Maybe Duncan’s been tied up, that would be funny. But Mary still looks very sad.

Write soon.  
Love Jermaine.


	10. Jimmy rings Caprice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimmy rings Caprice, firstly to say he's found her letter, and secondly to inform that Calvin is a suspect in the case and she needs to give a statement about him.

Caprice: Hello?

Jimmy: Caprice.

Caprice: What do you want?

Jimmy: I found your letter and texts.

Caprice: Well it makes no difference now. You’ve met someone else.

Jimmy: But I need to give you an explanation.

Caprice: I don’t know if I want to hear it. I don’t know if I can stomach it now. Maybe in a year’s time when I’m over you, but not now.

Jimmy: I did misplace your letter. I honestly didn’t know about it. And I was so bogged down in the case that I overlooked some of my texts. It wasn’t deliberate.  
Caprice: Bogged down in your case? Bogged down in Asha, more like.

Jimmy: You know her name?

Caprice: Of course I do. I described her to Freya and she recognised her. She’s Michael Witness Protection Officer. Obviously did more than just that in the case.

Jimmy: What is that supposed to mean? Don’t be like that Caprice. I don’t want to lose you as a friend.

Caprice: We can’t be just friends. You can’t be just friends when you have a strong feeling for someone. I can’t ever see you again, it breaks my heart.  
Jimmy: But I need to see you anyway.

Caprice: Why?

Jimmy: I saw you talking to Calvin Sawar. You know who he is?

Caprice: That lawyer guy from Glasgow who got out of your car? He said he was working with you in the case. You’re going to tell me he’s not.  
Jimmy: No he’s not. He’s a suspect in Michael’s murder, or at least a person of interest. Why did he start talking to you?

Caprice: I don’t know. I don’t know whether it was because I was looking at your car, or if it was because of my cousin. My cousin spent the night with us and flew to Edinburgh the next day. Calvin knew her when she did post-grad studies in Glasgow. He had seen her at the airport when she arrived, noticed my accent and asked if we were related.

Jimmy: So that’s why you were at the airport? Anyway because he’s a possible suspect, you need to give a statement about your encounter with him. I need to see you for that.

Caprice: No Jimmy. I told you, seeing you breaks my heart. I’ll talk to Tosh or Sandy.

Jimmy: I’ll arrange for one of them to talk to you then.

Caprice: Good-bye Jimmy. I’ll always love you. Good-bye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now even though this is my story, I would be interested for male readers to make comments about how Jimmy is currently feeling. I am trying to work out how the main character of Shetland would feel if in this situation. I know how I, a woman, would feel, but how would Jimmy feel?
> 
> Writing this coincided with me watching Episode 3 of Series 5. Alice has just kissed Jimmy. It's making me think of my new ending in Part 4. Shall I write a spoiler in the comments field of one of the chapters?


	11. THE HORRENDOUS KIDNAP – JERMAINE’S ACCOUNT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caprice gives her statement about Calvin to Tosh. Tosh tells about her rape in Glasgow. Caprice gets kidnapped by Calvin's men, one of them being Tosh's attacker. This chapter is told from Jermaine's perspective. The next chapter is from Caprice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I proceed with this chapter I need to change the rating. As I previously mentioned, there are no graphic scenes in my story, but in this chapter Tosh talks to Caprice about her rape in Glasgow. It doesn't actually occur in my story but is mentioned.
> 
> The next chapter will be the same scene from Caprice's perspective. It will tell what happens to her when she is with Calvin. I meant to have it all in one chapter but it got long.

Jimmy is in Rhona’s office just before he heads back to Glasgow.

Jimmy: Did Caprice come to my house the night you dropped in after we found Robbie’s body?

Rhona: Oh aye she did.

Jimmy: You didn’t think of telling me?

Rhona: Sorry I forgot. And you’ve had more important things to think about, what with these murders.

Jimmy: Are you saying Caprice isn’t important? She was going to tell me how she feels about me. I’ve been pushing her aside, not on purpose, I’ve just been caught up in this investigation. She was trying to tell me this, but now I’ve met Asha and............................

Rhona: You have to decide which woman you want to be with. I’m sorry I forgot to mention her coming, but I had nothing to do with you misplacing that letter. I didn’t even know she wrote one. Why would I, I hardly know her.

Jimmy: (sighs) For years I wondered if I would ever get over Fran and be happy with someone else, and now.......................................

Rhona: Torn between two women. You have to decide, Jimmy.

Jimmy: Caprice isn’t talking to me.

Rhona: You have to work that out.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
>Calvin talks to Andy (Tosh’s rapist) over the phone. Calvin is back in Glasgow, Andy is in Shetland.

Calvin: Any more goings-on up there? Do I need to go there? Because that Perez turd is back down here, god knows what he’ll find. We underestimate his detective work. I don’t want to be away too long.

Andy: Well boss, something of interest, don’t know if we can use it to our advantage. Perez has woman trouble.*

Calvin: (snorts and laughs loud) Woman trouble? Him? Perez grieves over his dead wife!

Andy: Well these two women are very much alive.

Calvin: Let me guess, one of them is the Australian woman.

Andy: Yep.

Calvin: Who’s the other one?

Andy: Asha Israni.

Calvin: Asha? Good old Asha? If she’s the one I knew at uni. Went into witness protection or something after she graduated.

Andy: This one did Witness Protection with Thompson. I saw her take the Glasgow flight from Lerwick.

Calvin: That’s her. Interesting indeed. How did you find all this out?

Andy: I was at the airport checking the security stuff. I saw them. Asha was with Perez. The skip and her daughter were at the airport and saw them. You should have seen the kanga, in tears, like a baby. Oh how hilarious!

Calvin: I think we could have some fun here. I’ll come to Shetland and we’ll nab her for a bit of fun. But I can’t stay long, with Perez down here. She works in Shetland Transport, but when she leaves work there will be other colleagues. I suggest you follow her and choose a moment when she’s alone, like on the beach.

Andy: Shall we get the other guys to nab Asha?

Calvin: No, no need. She probably knows karate anyway. We’ll just nab Caprice.

Andy: What about the mini-skip? Shall we nab her too?

Calvin: Probably no need at this stage. We’ll let her pine for her mum.

Andy: The security’s building up at the airport here boss. Are you a suspect to the fuzz as yet? Will you be able to get through unnoticed?

Calvin: Don’t worry Andy. I know someone with a private jet. He’ll take me there and back. Then it’s done quick. I don’t have to sit and wait for a flight.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Jimmy will have more woman trouble in Part 4.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Marie

Oh what a day! A day I’ll never forget! A day when I thought I would become an orphan. Then what would happen to me? Would I have to go back to Australia? Would Uncle Alex look after me? Or would I become a ward of the State in Shetland?

I wanted to email Cassie, but Mum herself is going to do this. She’s going to email Cassie anyway to tell her what happened with Tosh – oh my god, what happened to Tosh - and also I think she herself wants to tell Cassie about Asha.

How it started off! Well, Mum had received a phone call from Jimmy of all people. I wondered if this could be something promising, but what about Asha? But he also wants her to make a statement about her conversation with that Calvin guy. Aunty Ange was right, he is a sleazy character. He told Mum he was helping Jimmy with the case, but he is a suspect.

O f course Mum didn’t want to talk to Jimmy so Tosh arranged to see us. Coming over to do work stuff on a Saturday? But that fitted in with Mum. It wouldn’t look good for Tosh to come to Mum’s work. I wonder if Tosh gets paid overtime for this, but I guess detectives sometimes have to do things on weekends if it means catching the crims quicker.

Tosh arrived just after lunch. We were back from Drama School. It wasn’t raining so we walked to the beach. While Mum sat on the rocks and talked to Tosh, I collected shells like I used to when I was little. I still sometimes have the urge now. Back in Australia, Mum once took my shells back to the beach, to make room in the house so Dad would stop complaining, but also she thought I had grown out of them. Only to have me collect more next time we went to the beach.  
Tosh was looking very sad, almost glum. As if something terrible had happened to her. Very different from the tough lady who saved me from the racist thugs when we had just arrived in Lerwick.

And something had. When they finished, Mum came down to me, put her arm around me and spoke softly, “Jemmy, I need to tell you something. Something happened to Tosh in Glasgow. I hope you can take this in. At school, in Health, in Sex Education, have they told you what rape is?”

“Of course I know what rape is, Mum. When sex is forced on someone who doesn’t want it.”

“Well that happened to Tosh. When she was at the airport, waiting for the flight back to Shetland, she was abducted and .............raped.”

I gasped, almost screamed. “How? When? What? Who?”

“One of the gangsters who is involved in Michael’s death.”

“Why?!!!”

“To ward the detectives off the investigation.” Yes, she says the detectives, because I know she will start crying if she speaks Jimmy’s name.  
I rang to Tosh, hugged her tight, probably saturated her shoulder with my tears. Constantly told her how sorry I was, how horrible for her. Tosh stroked my hair and told me she was hanging in there.

Mum sat down on the beach, while I sat with Tosh on the rocks. Mum said, “Does Cassie know?”

“I haven’t told her,” replied Tosh. “I don’t know if Jimmy has, but I thought he may have asked me first, which he hasn’t. I told Billy myself, and he will let Sandy know. Rhona knows of course.”

“Well Cassie should know. Didn’t you go out with her the night before? Is it possible that the thug was watching you on various occasions before he made his move? He would have seen her.”

Tosh gasped, now worrying about Cassie just like Mum was. She knew what Mum was about to say.

“If so, does he know who she is? Hopefully he just thinks she’s a young friend of yours and will leave her alone. But you never know. These thugs are clever and find things out. They found Michael. God knows what info you can get from the Internet these days. Or they can sense things. As I told you with Calvin, he sensed before I said anything that I’m related to Angeline. Someone else would have thought she was just another Aussie visiting Shetland.”

“You look similar, Mum,” I said, “And people would see the resemblance in me too.”

“It’s not that obvious,” said Mum. “If one saw us together, yes they would see we look alike, but not when we’re apart. Thugs who are looking for clues sense things.”  
“Your mother’s right,” said Tosh. “You’re right Caprice, he could find out that Cassie is Jimmy’s daughter. Could you email her? Saves me more pain.”

“I’ll do it tonight,” said Mum.

Tosh’s face suddenly became pale. “Caprice!”

Mum looked up. Tosh spoke again. “Caprice. The guy who raped me!”

Mum said, “Yes, you want to say more about him?”

Before anything more could be said, it all happened in what seemed like less than a second! I suddenly knew what Tosh was trying to say. In a mini-second a dark-haired guy appeared from behind one of the rocks, Tosh was staring at him like he was the Devil – and he grabbed Mum from behind! Dragged her along the beach. He had a car already waiting, hiding behind some of the old homes that lead to the sea. He had her in the car before Tosh and I could catch up.  
You guess? Yes, he was Tosh’s rapist. She recognised him instantly. Probably a face she will never forget. Now he had Mum. He was quiet, Mum had no idea he was behind her. What was he going to do with her? Not rape her too?

Tosh told me to try to get the number plate and keep watching which direction he went, then rang Rhona. I heard her say, “Ma’am! The guy who raped me! He’s here! Here in Shetland and he’s got Caprice!” Then she and I ran to her car, and tried to work out approximately which direction he would head, He couldn’t go too far while still on the beach – could he?

We lost track of him a few times but found him again. Each time he disappeared, Tosh called the other officers on the car’s radar and informed whereabouts the car was, so they might find him from a different angle. She told me Rhona was organising the whole of the Met to come out. The whole Lerwick police force? Can they save my Mum?

I asked would Sandy and Billy be there? Sandy for sure. Billy, he and the guy who looks after the front desk when he’s out will probably be arguing who should go.  
During the chase we saw a private jet fly up from a valley. Fancy-looking thing, would it be owned – or stolen – by a Glasgow thug? Tosh reported it on her radar, I burst into tears, worried that Mum might be on it. Tosh held my hand and kept telling me to hang in there. We don’t know that Mum was in there, it might not even have anything to do with the thugs. I then said, “Then why is it flying out of a valley and not from the airport?” Tosh conceded that was a valid point. Now the dilemma – if Mum was on it, how would the jet be chased? Would air force guys be prepared to chase it? Would they think it was worthwhile? For chances were that if it didn’t leave an airport it probably won’t land in an airport. They will want to be hidden, because security guys at the airport will be notified and look for it. And we don’t know for sure if it is going to Glasgow.

During the chase the cops were also discussing whether the crims – they presumed there was more than one involved – were likely to change vehicles. They did, but with so many cop cars, the cops were able to spot when the car disappeared, and another would come out of that spot.

We did finally find Mum. She wasn’t in the jet. We saw the rapist and another man holding her looking as if they were about to throw her off the cliff. I recognised that cliff. It is near Magnus’s shack. Mum managed to escape their grip when they started arguing about something. Magnus appeared, she must have called for him. The men grabbed Mum again, but Magnus bashed their heads together, and they dropped onto the ground holding their hands on their sore heads and groaning, until the police grabbed them and took the away. Some of the cops even had guns, because we didn’t know if they were armed. Fortunately they weren’t, and they were taken away.

I ran to Mum and hugged her. We were both in tears. Tosh came and joined in the hug. I then went to hug Magus, as Mum was hugging Sandy and then Billy. Rhona came to hug her too, but there was so sign of Jimmy. I wondered whether to ask where he was, as Mum would probably be too upset. But Magnus asked. Jimmy was back in Glasgow, more things had cropped up with the case. She then asked Magnus if we could have use of his shack, so Mum could give her statement about what just happened.

Mum muttered something to Rhona, as they were walking behind me and Magnus. Tosh was walking in the middle. Mum was probably saying something about Asha. I heard Rhona say, “No, he’s definitely there for work. He might see her but he did go there for work. “ They continued talking as I walked ahead with Magnus.

At the shack, Magus made a pot of tea for everyone. Rhona said Mum might want something stronger, but Mum said it would give her a headache. She’d wait till she was home before having some wine. As she began to talk I fell asleep on Magnus’s couch. They had to wake me up to go home. Rhona gave us a lift. I was still drowsy in the back seat. I recall Mum and Rhona talking but didn’t hear quite what they were saying. I wondered if it was about today, but I did hear Jimmy’s name mentioned. They were probably talking about Jimmy. Is it wise to have a heart-to-heart with his boss? 

I was woken up again when we arrived home. Miriam was in the front yard. She had heard some sort of commotion and came out to see what was happening but the car had gone by then. She had seen me and Tosh on the beach. Appears she hasn’t met Tosh, she didn’t realise she is a policewoman. So she called the police, and they had told her they knew what was going on and were on their way.

Rhona told Mum she should possibly have a day off work. Mum, being a temp, was reluctant, and thought she should be ok by Monday. Both Rhona and Miriam told her to think about it and if she decides to stay home, Rhona said she herself would ring Mum’s work. A phone call from the Head of Lerwick’s police station would prove that Mum isn’t bludging it.

I really must go to bed now. How I normally like to stay up a bit on Saturday nights but not tonight. Mum will probably tell me what happened tomorrow.  
Love Jermaine


	12. THE HORRENDOUS KIDNAP – CAPRICE'S ACCOUNT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Details of the kidnap from Caprice's perspective. It includes Caprice's conversations with Tosh, Calvin and Rhona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a rollercoaster this chapter. Almost like the real Shetland Series 5.
> 
> With Series 5 released I'll need to make changes to my original story to keep with status quo. I was wondering if Jimmy would end up with Alice, but of course in my story he has to end up with Caprice. But lots of things to happen before then. Still a few things to happen in Part 3.

TOSH AND CAPRICE Caprice: Right. You want to know about this Calvin character. Well, I had never seen him before in my life. I don’t know why he approached me. He said I looked similar to my cousin Angeline, and that he had seen her at the airport when she arrived. But they weren’t close at uni, she didn’t even like him. Tosh: What else did he say to you? It might make you think of why he approached you. Caprice: (pauses) He first spoke when he saw me looking at Jimmy’s car. Asked if I was a friend of Jimmy’s. I had seen him come out of the car. Yes, he started walking towards me when I was still looking at Jimmy’s car, hoping to get Jimmy’s attention. He asked if I was a friend of Jimmy’s and said he was a lawyer from Glasgow. I automatically asked if he was helping with the case and he said yes. But funny, Tosh, there was something about him that wasn’t quite right. He did look a little sleazy but you can’t always judge by first appearance. Tosh: No, but sometimes it may be right. Did you tell Angeline? Caprice: Oh yes, and she told me about him. Sneaky little bugger as a uni student, wheeling and dealing in things at uni. She didn’t know the details, nor did she want to. Tosh: How did she know him? She’s older, and Australian. Caprice: Angeline has always been a gung-ho career woman. After she finished her ordinary law degree in Adelaide, she did various post-grad courses, including International Law at Cambridge. Over time she’s come back and forth from the UK and done various uni courses at other cities, one being Glasgow. She met Calvin in the Law Debate Club. Tosh: They recognised each other after all these years? Caprice: It appears so. But Ange ran off at first sight of him. She didn’t want to talk to him, and he told me she seemed to be in a hurry. Hurry to get away from him, not to get to Lerwick. She knew Jermaine would wait happily until she arrived. Tosh: He didn’t mention anything about the case or Glasgow or previously meeting Jimmy? Caprice: No. But then if he was genuine, he wouldn’t be allowed to discuss details. And my bus came, so I couldn’t talk for long. Tosh: Hmm, so he didn’t mention anyone called Arthur McCall? Caprice: No. Arthur McCall, I know that name. He want mentioned in Michael’s last letter to Freya. The one he gave to Asha to pass onto her. He owned that nightclub Level 9. (Tosh looks down and shudders). Caprice: Tosh, are you alright? Tosh: Yes, I’m fine. You’re right, Arthur owned that nightclub and I think Michael worked there as a bouncer. Caprice: He had the right build for a bouncer. (They both giggle). Is Calvin linked with him? Tosh: Arthur himself had done some crimes and been in jail. He came out the day Jimmy and I arrived in Glasgow. Jimmy was involved in his arrest when he first went to jail but that was years ago. I would have still been a cadet. Calvin was his lawyer. Caprice: So they have a link to Jimmy, but what of Michael? Why would they want to kill him, that is if it’s them, after all these year? Tosh: Michael was testifying against Arthur. That’s what the witness protection was all about. Caprice: But this Arthur guy only came out of jail recently? When you arrived in Glasgow? Tosh: Yes. Caprice: So he was still in jail when Michael’s witness protection began? That’s odd, why would he testify someone who’s already in jail? If they knew Michael was testifying, why not keep him inside a little longer, or at least put on parole? I’m not a policewoman, am I missing something here? Tosh: We think Calvin may have pulled some strings to get him out sooner. But we’re still trying to put all the pieces together, I can’t say any more. Calvin didn’t say anything else to you? Caprice: No. My bus came. Tosh, you’re looking down again. What’s wrong? Tosh: I’m fine. Caprice: No you’re not. You haven’t been yourself since you got back from Glasgow. I’ve noticed it each time I’ve seen you and so has Freya. Something happened in Glasgow didn’t it. Tosh, tell me as a friend. Tosh: Caprice..................... __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CAPRICE AND CALVIN Caprice has been abducted and escaped and is running away from the thugs, only to bump into Calvin. Andy: Ahh, you Aussie tart. Shove the sack on me, would ya? Caprice: I know what you did to Tosh and you’re not doing it to me! Andy: And what would that be? Caprice: You raped her! Andy: And why would I want to do that to you? (Calvin appears. Caprice sees the jet behind him.) Calvin: Caprice! We meet again. Caprice: I thought you were back in Glasgow. Calvin: Oh I had to come back and see you. Caprice: What do you want from me? Andy: Ha, think I’m going to shag you? Why would I want to do that to an old bag like you? You’re an ugly old bag. Caprice: The feeling’s mutual. Andy: I bet Jimmy thinks you’re an ugly old bag. Your body ain’t half as gorgeous as Asha’s! (Caprice bursts into tears). Calvin: Dear me, that was a bit harsh Andy. Come on children let’s play nice. Hey Caprice, I think you’re not half bad. Come in the jet to Glasgow with me. Caprice: What? You’ve got to be joking. Go away with you? Leave my daughter? Why would I run away with a crook? Because that’s what you really are, aren’t you. You’re not working with Jimmy. Calvin: That doesn’t make me a crook. You’re a bit paranoid. Caprice: Why would you say you’re working with Jimmy when you’re not? I’ve been told by Jimmy himself – you’re a suspect. Calvin: A suspect in what? Michael’s murder? You’re jumping to conclusions, Caprice. Caprice: You’re not a friend of Angeline’s. She hated you. She told me you were someone not to be trusted. Back in uni days. Calvin: In the debate club. Asha was in the debate club too. Aah, Asha. It appears you and she have the same tastes in men. She didn’t like me either. I don’t seem to have much luck. Caprice: Well maybe if you were a more honest person you would find someone. You are good-looking, I’ll give you that Calvin. Calvin: Nice to know that. You won’t come with me to Glasgow? Maybe you can tell me more about what Jimmy’s doing. Caprice: Well I haven’t seen him have I? Not since he’s been with Asha. Half of the time I don’t know if he’s in Glasgow or Shetland. So if you want me to spill beans on Jimmy so you can pounce on him and do what I dread to think – there’s no use asking me. I am of no use to you, Calvin. Let me go, get back to my daughter. Calvin: Let you go just like that? We’ll have to think about that. And why did you think Andy was going to pounce on you? Caprice: Because I know he’s the man who raped Tosh. Calvin: Ah, Jimmy’s sergeant. What makes you say that? Caprice: Tosh recognised him when he abducted me? Calvin: (looking concerned) What? The policewoman was with you? Andy, you were meant to grab her when she was alone. Andy: I thought she was. I didn’t see the cop. Where was she? Caprice: She was sitting on one of the rocks with my daughter. Calvin: Well Andy, with such carelessness you’re going to have to think fast on what to do to avoid the same fate as Michael Thompson. Caprice: So you did kill him! Calvin: I didn’t. Caprice: But you’re involved! (Police sirens are heard). Calvin: AAhh the copper girl got her friends. Other thug: You’d better get going boss. Calvin: One last time Caprice, will you come with me? Caprice: No way. Calvin: Then I have no choice but to leave you at the mercy of these two men. Other thug: What shall we do with her boss? Do you want her killed? Calvin: No. You may need a hostage. (Calvin climbs into the plane and it takes off. The thugs drag Caprice into the car and drive off). __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Dear Cassie  
I must write to you! I have news that is distressing and important. We have had a very dramatic day today, and you need to know. I don’t know if your father has told you, but he may not have, he would have consulted Tosh before. I saw her today.

I must begin to inform you that Tosh was abducted and raped when she was waiting for her flight back to Lerwick. It was one of the guys involved in Michael’s murder. He said this was a warning for her boss to back off. 

Tosh was out with you the night before. We don’t know if the guy had been watching her, following her. If so, he may have seen you. Hopefully he doesn’t know who you are, and thinks you’re just a friend of Tosh’s. But if he does, you could be in danger. Keep your eyes open and don’t go out anywhere without Edison. Especially at night. At least until all of this is over, but then you may be in Brazil before then. It’s up to you if you want to let your dad know that I’ve told you, but you may agree with me that we wouldn’t want him to worry any more than he has to.

Oh yes, another things, your Dad. Unfortunately I have to let you know that it is unlikely I will see him again. You probably already worked it out, for a long time I’ve dreamt of becoming your stepmother. But it’s not going to be. He’s met someone called Asha. He met her in Glasgow. She was the Witness Protection Officer for Michael. Yes I am devastated. But I’m an middle-aged lady who has to try to keep going. I have to keep going for Jermaine.

And something happened to me. I was approached by some lawyer from Glasgow called Calvin Sawar. I saw him come out of your Dad’s car. He claimed to be helping Jimmy with the case, but it turns out he has something to do with the killing. He was a suspect. Tosh came to take a statement from me. While we talked I could tell she wasn’t herself, so I asked her what was wrong. She was reluctant to tell me, as she wanted to keep professional and talk about my statement. But I eventually got it out of her.

I had to gently tell Jermaine. Of course she was beside herself. I sat on the sand so Jermaine could have a few minutes with Tosh. Then Tosh called out to me, “Caprice! The man who raped me!” I thought she wanted to talk more about him, when suddenly before I knew what was happening I was grabbed from behind.  
The guy who attacked now had me. I realised. She had seen him, recognised him, tried to warn me to move. As I was dragged along the sand, I noticed something sticking out of the pocket of his jeans, Yes, a sack! He had put a sack over Tosh’s head when he had her in the car and drove her to that place that used to be a nightclub where Michael worked many years ago.

He dragged me into the backseat of a waiting car, another man in the driving seat. I immediately grabbed the sack and shoved it over his head. He screamed rude names at me like “Aussie Bitch” as I tried to open the car door. Not sure how dangerous that would have been to jump out, but I found I couldn’t anyway – like most cars of today, central locking.

The car finally stopped in some valley amongst the cliffs, deep enough to hide a jet. One couldn’t help but notice the jet. Tosh’s attacker had a tight grip on my arm with one hand, and had taken off his sack with the other. I snatched the sack and shoved it on his head again. Again he started swearing, calling me a Kanga Wench, and tripped as he pulled it off again. I managed to escape his grip but the other guy grabbed me, and then....there I saw him standing in front of me – Calvin!  
This is how I wonder how much they could find out, and if they could find out that you are Jimmy’s daughter. They know about Jimmy and Asha. And Calvin worked out from talking to me the other day about my feelings for Jimmy. So I copped taunts about Asha, and Calvin tried to lure me into the jet with him to take me to Glasgow. Thought I would do it to spite Jimmy. Of course I won’t. As if I would go off with a criminal. As if I would want to leave Jermaine.

But one mistake my kidnapper made. It appears he didn’t realise Tosh was with me. I was sitting on the beach when he grabbed me, and Tosh and Jermaine were further up, on the rocks. So he didn’t see them. But obviously Tosh saw him. When I mentioned this, Calvin gave him a dirty look, scolded him for being careless, how he was supposed to take me when I was alone. The guy started to argue that he thought I was, but then in the background we heard police sirens.

Calvin quickly scrambled into the jet, the pilot already in there. He tried to coax me one more time to go with him, of course I declined. I wonder if it would have depended on my life. The other two thugs were remaining in Shetland, and asked Calvin if they should kill me. Calvin said no, they may need a hostage. 

The jet went off, I wonder how much attention it would create for those on the ground. How I hoped there would be armed policemen to shoot it down. (Didn’t occur to me that they wouldn’t if they thought I was in it).

The two guys shoved me in the boot and drove to a cliff. This was the time when I wondered if my number was up. Calvin had said keep me alive as a hostage, but Tosh’s attacker wanted to throw me off the cliff because I knew who he is, but the other was regimental in wanting to follow orders. They lost grip of me whilst they were arguing, so I temporarily managed to escape. I then saw Magnus Bain’s shack. My luck had changed. I ran calling out to Magnus. Maybe I should have waited till I was closer to the shack, because the thugs heard me, ran to me and grabbed me again.

But Magnus did hear. I heard the steps of his feet from his heavy build. You should have heard him yell out, “Scellums! Scellums! What ye doing with our Caprice? I’ll gie ye a skelpit lug!” They lost grip of me again when Magnus grabbed each of them by the shoulder and bashed their heads together.

By then the police had arrived. I immediately hugged Jermaine and Tosh. Jermaine went over to Magnus. I saw the rest of our team too, but not your Dad. Apparently, according to Rhona, he’s in Glasgow. I don’t know if he’s contacted you since, but I guess you know as well as I do, Cass, that he appears to be flitting back and forth.

Rhona asked Magnus if we could have use of his shack for my statement. We all walked to his home – Magnus in front holding Jermaine’s hand, Tosh just behind them, and at the back me and Rhona. The other cops went back to the station, with the thugs in handcuffs. These cops had come prepared – they brought guns with them in case the thugs were armed. But they were not, so the guns were put away.

A big ordeal for Jermaine, she slept most of the time after that. She slept on Magnus’s couch while I gave my statement to Rhona. We had to arouse her when it was time to go home. She fell asleep again in Rhona’s car.

When we got home, Rhona called to Miriam, who was already on the front. She had heard something when I was mugged and had come out to see what was happening. She had called the cops, but was told they were already onto it.

Rhona told me to think about staying home on Monday, and even offered to ring my work herself. Thought it would give more substance to my absence from work if Shetland’s Police Head rang them. But I am a temp and if I don’t miss a day I miss a day’s pay. I will just try to take it easy. But Miriam insisted that I should stay home from church tonight. She will tell the other parishioners and if I am rostered for anything she will find someone else.

So I am spending tonight writing this to you. I hope I haven’t scared you too much. Just keep your wits about you, and let Edison know everything. If you manage to come up here before heading off to Brazil, don’t worry about the thugs - they’ve been caught. But the ones still in Glasgow watch out for.

Take care.  
Love Caprice.

_______________________________________CAPRICE AND RHONA  
Rhona is driving Caprice and Jermaine home.

Rhona: So – Calvin Sawar is definitely involved in Michael’s murder.

Caprice: Oh he’s involved alright. He may not have killed Michael himself but he’s the ringleader for sure. And those thugs.........................

Rhona: At least they didn’t hurt you physically.

Caprice: They did something worse. Calling me an old bag. Telling me my body wasn’t as good as Asha’s.

Rhona: They actually said that? And how would they know? Should have asked them if they had been with Asha themselves. They were playing on your emotions, you should know that and ignore them.

Caprice: I should realise that at my age, but it’s no easier than it was when I was a young girl. But I will never be Asha will I. I saw how immaculate and elegant she was. Looking like that and handling witness protection cases. I could never do something like that. And Fran was a brilliant painter. Oh to have her skills. What skills do I have, Rhona?

Rhona: I’m sure you have some. I see the bond with you and Jermaine. You’re a great mum.

Caprice: We had to bond even more after Mick died. There’s just the two of us.

Rhona: And you did that well. You settled well in Shetland. Fitted into the community. You should be proud. You’re a fantastic person.  
Caprice: If only Jimmy would say that.

Rhona: I know. You’re not alone. I had a relationship recently that went sour. You know why? My partner is the Senior Fiscal of Glasgow, which one would think is a position of trust, but has in fact had some involvement on the wrong side of the case. Or at least the son did.

Caprice: With the thugs?

Rhona: Something like that. I can’t say anymore. I don’t know if your cousin would have come across him but I can’t say his name.

Caprice: And his father was your boyfriend?

Rhona: His mother was my girlfriend.

(They arrive at Caprice and Jermaine’s house. Miriam is waiting. Miriam and Jermaine go inside. Rhona speaks to Caprice again).

Rhona: Caprice, look at me. You’re not Asha or Fran, you’re Caprice. You’re a very beautiful woman in your own right. Remember that.

Caprice: But Jimmy....................

Rhona: If Jimmy can’t see that, that’s his problem. Now you’ve had a big day, let’s get inside.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	13. Picking Up Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caprice and Jermaine try to get back to normal. Caprice has a new understanding with Duncan and Mary. Cassie drops in before going to Brazil.

Dear Marie

Both Mum and I have been trying to get back to our normal routine, after that big ordeal, and of course Mum trying to forget about Jimmy. She has that sad look, the same sort of look she had when Dad died. She worries about bumping into Jimmy and Asha in the street, tries to prepare herself for it. She even talks of what if Jimmy goes to Glasgow to be with her. But then, if he did, Mum wouldn’t have to face him.

The Tarans are good support. They have always been one of our best friends ever since we first arrived in Shetland. Mum feels guilty, thinks she’s a burden to them. But the other day when we were all leaving the library, Deidre said to her, “You would do the same for me wouldn’t you, if I was upset about something?” Of course Mum would. 

When Sarah and I are at school, we concentrate on our schoolwork, but when we leave for the library with Annabel, that’s when we have heart to hearts. It is reassuring to know I have friends who are there for me. Just like what I had with you, Marie, back in Australia.

And every Friday evening I have fun when we visit Leanne. She is slowly getting back to normal, walking better but still can’t lift heavy things. And the emotional side of what she went through. Grace the manager of the home has said she has been having nightmares. What a shock it must have been for you to be told you were scratched by bullets. Mum keeps telling herself that Leanne and Freya have been through something worse. They both lost their men to cold blood.

Oh but that other day – Deidre insisted on coming home with us. Hamish was working an afternoon/evening shift, and Deidre thought Mum could use the company. Well the girls and I don’t complain, it meant we got a playdate. So Deidre and the girls came on our bus home with us. 

As we walked past the Hunters’ house, Duncan was standing in the front yard. “What a lovely set of ladies,” the creep says. Deidre muttered, “Don’t even think about it.” Mum stopped in her tracks and growled, “As if I would go for a married man.”

Duncan then said, “I would never make a pass at you, Caprice.” As Mum was making a small huff noise, Duncan then spoke in a gentle way, “I know how you feel about Jimmy.”  
Mum sighed. “I suppose you know about Asha. If you’re gloating, there’s no need.”

“I’m not gloating. I’m very sorry. I know how you must feel.”

“Shouldn’t you save that empathy for Mary?” put in Deidre.

“Aye you’re right. I’ve come to talk to her. I’ve been staying with Jimmy the last two weeks.”*

I then joined the conversation. “We thought it had been a bit quiet in your house.”

Duncan called me a cheeky thing and rubbed his hand on my head like a little kid. We were then told to go to the house and go inside. The grown-ups would meet us there. We would have liked to stay, but somehow I don’t think there would be any juicy gossip. It sounds like Duncan is trying to turn over a new leaf. We joked that we would know when he comes back, we would hear arguments – or maybe we wouldn’t if they were finally sorting things out.

I asked Mum how much Duncan knew about Asha. No more than we do. He had seen her and Jimmy at a distance having a drink together, but she had never been to the house. She is back in Glasgow, and Jimmy is back in Shetland.

Oh and last night Cassie dropped in briefly. Yes she’s back in Shetland before heading off to Brazil. Edison has already gone. She texted me to let know when she could come, amidst saying good-bye to everyone else, so Mum and I headed straight to the bus stop in town. No time to get anything from shops. Mum hoped we would have enough food if Cassie wanted to eat anything.

Cassie was there at our front doorstep waiting for us. We dropped our bags inside, then decided to walk along the beach. The sun was about to set in the ocean. As we closed the front gate I looked up and noticed Mary in the front yard. Mum has commented on numerous occasions that she looks forlorn, but she looked very much so at this time. Previously she was alone because Duncan was out playing poker or boozing or gallivanting with other ladies. But now we knew she was thinking about him coming back to her. All three of us looked up to her. When she caught our attention, Mum moved her head as to beckon her to come and join us.

Mum and Mary walked together behind me and Cassie. Mary doesn’t know what it was that made it click for Duncan – whether living with Jimmy made him come to his senses. Jimmy wouldn’t allow loose women or drunken poker players into the house. But when he came to the house the other day she felt he did sound genuine about starting anew and doing the right thing. He will be calling her later that night. He even talked of moving to a new home to start afresh totally. A new state-of-the-art house he had spotted in a more remote area. Duncan knows of properties, that’s his profession. We have been wondering for a long time what he does for a living.

Cassie and I couldn’t resist saying that nobody will hear them arguing if their neighbours are going to be a long way away. Mary chuckled, and replied that hopefully there won’t be so many arguments.

As we sat on the beach, there was mention of Jimmy. Mum looked sad as Cassie hugged her and said, “I wanted you to have him.” Mum held Cassie’s hand and said, “It’s not your problem. We can’t hold a knife at his throat. As I said to Leanne. Pity you won’t be here long enough to meet Leanne. You would have liked her. She’s very much like you.”

“Well when I can come back and visit, don’t know when that will be.”

“Bit of a long way,” said Mary.

“And I don’t know if Leanne plans to stay in Shetland,” said Mum. “She may have if Robbie was still alive, but now she may go back to Aberdeen when she can.”  
“Surely she will stay a little while, “ I said sadly. I will miss Leanne if she leave, it’s said enough that Cassie is leaving. Like it was when I left Australia. At least in this day and age we have internet so can still keep in touch.

The night-time sky was finally coming. Cassie had to go home before Jimmy panicked about her. Before I would have joked that she should ask him to pick her up so Mum can see him, but that was before Asha. We walked her to the bus stop. As she got on the bus, she rang Jimmy to let him know she was on her way. We hoped she would get home safely now that it was dark, but it does appear the Glasgow thugs have not raised their ugly heads again.

I got a hug from both Mum and Mary. I don’t know when I’ll see Cassie again, the closest to a big sister. Mum told me we should be happy that she will be with the man she loves. At least she will have a happy ending.**

All my love  
Your BFF Jermaine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *In the TV Series Duncan phones Mary to sort out their marriage. In my story he visits her as well. This is when Deidre and Caprice meet up with him.
> 
> **Alas, as we know from the TV Series, in Part 4 it won’t be so happy for Cassie.


	14. Leanne's Downfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caprice and Jermaine find out the truth about Leanne.

Jimmy has just taken Asha to the Lighthouse hotel. He has been advised by Tosh that she was in Shetland at the same time as Michael, and could be the possible leak to Michael's whereabouts. As Asha walks into the hotel, he is staring into space, disillusioned. A bus goes past, and stops at the traffic lights. He sees Caprice in it, on her way back to the city from work. He tries to get her attention by waving, but she notices Asha go into the hotel so looks away.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Marie

Oh if any more bad things could happen. Shetland is never boring.

Mum picked me up at the library as usual. Being Friday it was our night to visit Leanne. We got off the bus near the nursing home. Even from a distance we could see Craig standing in the doorway, as if he was waiting for us.

He was. He looked very solemn. He spoke before we even reached the front porch. Something has happened to Leanne and Grace wanted to see us immediately.  
He took us to Grace’s office. As he is friends with us, she thought it would be a good idea for him to stay. Grace had a very concerned look on her face as she began telling Mum she had some dreadful news.

Mum at first thought Leanne had become suddenly sick from her injuries or died. But no. She has been arrested. She stabbed someone in the Lighthouse Hotel. Mum gasped, I let out a cry. Who would even think Leanne would do something violent? And again, like with other bad news I have heard, I am asking How, why, who?

All Grace knew was that Jimmy had visited Leanne today, come to see how she was. Half an hour later he was back, asking after her. Grace noticed she wasn’t around, but hadn’t noticed her leave. She obviously had snuck off quietly. What was she up to? They went outside and found Grace’s car missing. Grace ran back inside, to her office to check for her car-keys. Indeed they had gone. Leanne must have grabbed them when Grace was tending to another resident. Jimmy immediately had to go and find her.

It was later in the afternoon that Jimmy came back. He informed Grace that Leanne had been arrested for stabbing someone at the Lighthouse, and he wasn’t allowed to say any more at this stage. Of course, as we know, police privacy. But when Grace asked if the person died, he did say that they are alright.

I just can’t get my head around the fact that Leanne is going to jail. Who was the person? Was it attempted murder? Why would Leanne do that? She never appeared to be that way. Was the person Robbie’s killer? I couldn’t hold back tears, and Craig hugged me. Mum was staring into space.

We briefly went to say hello to Bella, then Craig walked us to the bus stop. He would have gladly driven us home but he was on his shift. I’m sure Grace would have let him, but Mum didn’t want to inconvenience him.

Craig and Mum were chatting. All kinds of things happening. Sandy and Jenny are having problems. “Oh no,” sighed Mum. ‘I thought they were doing well. Surely nothing to do with you, Craig, you’re on the straight and narrow now.”

“The case has had some stress on them,” said Craig. “But there are other things, I don’t want to pry.”

“Surely Sandy has been a good influence on you.”

“I guess. But you have, Caprice. I’m so sorry about Jimmy.”

“Try not to worry about me. If I was 30 years younger, I’d marry you. How about, when Jermaine comes of age, and you’re still single, and you’re still on the straight and narrow, which you will be or Sandy will be on you like a ton of bricks....”

Craig chuckled. Oh why does Mum have to make me blush? I felt a bit of embarrassment, I must admit, Marie. I always liked Craig, but he is older than me, so I thought it could only be a crush from afar. Never thought about it before, until this moment.

Craig added another gesture, just as the bus was coming. With Mum’s birthday coming up, he offered to take us to this music festival coming up. The main music festival is in May – my birthday – when Spring is on. But this one is being aligned with Halloween. The promoters have decided to put this little extra one on. And Craig thinks our spirits need to be lifted.  
We caught our bus to town, then the one home. A car was pulling up by our house as we walked down the hill. It was Billy! How different he looks when he’s not in uniform. Even though Mum is upset about Jimmy, we are still friends with the other cops that we met. We do bump into Tosh and Sandy’s Jenny in town from time to time. But Billy has always been a lovely, kind man. Mum hugged him like an old friend.

He had come to pass on a letter from Leanne. She didn’t want to leave without explaining to me what happened. Billy had already read it himself, as he had to – make sure there was nothing in it that the police didn’t already know. He did state that Leanne had already been taken to the mainland where HM Prison was.  
Billy gave us both a hug as Mum took the letter. He knows that Mum is upset about Jimmy, and we’re both upset about Leanne. Mum asked him inside, wanting him to sit with us as we both read it before she got tea ready. She asked Billy if he wanted anything, but Jean would have his tea waiting. Big as he was, he would get full eating two dinners.

The person Leanne stabbed was Asha! Mum was disturbed, worried that Leanne might have done this in her honour. But, as Billy pointed out, the letter talked about Leanne’s reasons. When Mum said, “I wanted Jimmy, I didn’t want Asha to be hurt,” Billy replied, “Leanne herself had a history with Asha. It had nothing to do with you. You’ve done nothing wrong, Caprice.”

And what revelations came out of this letter! It was Leanne – actually her real name is Lena – who advised Calvin that Michael was in Shetland. Sent an email to a lawyer in Glasgow who knew Asha, thinking he would see it as another case to get interested in – only to find he was the actual baddie who was after Michael! And Robbie’s death! ! She left him in the crate after they had an argument, and placed the lid on, not realising he wouldn’t be able to open the lid and get out. 

Billy said Lena’s silly little actions caused a tragic domino effect. And a lesson to be learned. He told me to think of consequences before I do something out of upset or anger. I always try to.

Billy left us to get our tea organised. Not that either of us could eat much tonight. But we made ourselves eat, we know we have to keep going, just like we did when Dad died.

Cassie leaves for Brazil tomorrow. I feel I’ve lost two big sisters. I do hope Cassie emails with me like you do.

Signing off another day in Lerwick. Yours BFF Jermaine.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
LEANNE’S LETTER

Dear Caprice and Jermaine

By the time you read this letter I will be HM Prison. This is so hard for me to write, but you have been so good to me, and I can’t leave without saying good-bye and an explanation.

I need to start from the beginning by stating that my real name is Lena Gilborne. I was born and bred in Shetland. I never knew my father; he left when I was a baby so for years it was just me and Mum. We were very close, like you two. She was very beautiful and kind, so much like you Caprice.

When I was about 9, Mum witnessed a murder. She was seen by the killers, so we were at danger. I don’t remember much, being so young, but I do recall Mum going to court and giving evidence, but something went wrong with the case and it was dropped. Hence we were eventually put in Witness Protection. The officer who did our case was none other than Asha Israni – yes Caprice, the woman who took your man. I believe it was her first case. It was then we were shunted to Aberdeen.  
The stress of it all, and not being able to lead a normal life as a result, got to Mum so much that she killed herself. I was a ward to the state until I was 18. I was deprived of a good education such as going to uni like Cassie, so could only makedo with jobs like chambermaid of hotels and homes. Maybe I would have become a cleaner at Grace’s home if I hadn’t been arrested.

As for Asha, by the time Mum was showing the signs of real stress, she had gone elsewhere for her next case. Didn’t contact us, ask how we were. To her we were just a number, something for her to score brownie points.

Years later, I see her again in the hotel where I was working. Sitting talking to Michael. The expression in his face and the way he looked around him – I could recognise instantly that he was a Witness Protection victim. I saw a spur of the moment opportunity to get back at Asha. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I finally confronted her – expose her in some way or another. Something I would work out at the time. But I took to action. I listened to bits and pieces of what they said, worked out Michael was going on the ferry to Lerwick, and told the manager I needed to take some leave.

I saw him arguing with Robbie. I approached Robbie, started talking with him, even got intimate, finally tried to persuade him to report Michael. He had assaulted him and looked like he was in some sort of shady business. The police would want to check him out. Through him I could finally expose Asha.

We had been drinking, and Robbie even had some dope on him. I hoped he might succumb to my wishes under the influence, but he wouldn’t. Jimmy has since told me Michael was Robbie’s long-lost father, which you may already know. That’s why he wouldn’t do anything against him.

We had been sitting in the garbage crate. I got so cross I left him and climbed out. I closed the lid, not realising it would lock and suffocate him. I thought it would slide open and he would find his way out, or the garbage guys would find him. I thought then he would go back to his seat on the top deck. When I saw he wasn’t there in the morning I knew something was wrong. That’s when I reported him missing. 

I wondered if Michael had anything to do with it, or if I could make it look as if he did. When Robbie’s body was found, yes I knew Michael wasn’t involved in that. But if I could point the police to him, even if he was found innocent, surely Asha’s face would appear and I could speak out against her.

Things dragged on. I couldn’t convince Jimmy to arrest Michael. I had to do something more but what? I was in the library one day, and saw in the corner various old uni gazettes. Not just for Lerwick but the big ones as well, Edinburgh and Glasgow. I vaguely remembered hearing that Asha had studied in Glasgow, and Mum and I were her first case after she graduated, so I could work out when her last year would be. With the help of old gazettes and the internet I found her name on a list for a debate club. Another was a famous Glasgow lawyer called Calvin Sawar.

It was a long shot, but a well-known legal person who had known Asha. If the legal guys in Shetland weren’t doing anything he might be interested. He might well say, “Why are you contacting me, what do I care about this?” But I had to attempt something.

I sent a message about Michael directly to his own email, not the general one of his law office. I had no idea who Calvin really was. I didn’t know he was the person that Michael was being protected from. What a twist of fate! Michael was going by a different surname to his real one, being in Witness Protection. But something must have clicked to make Calvin realise who he was, hence the shooters came. 

I don’t know what Asha was doing all this time. Obviously had gone back to Glasgow when Michael met his fate instead of being with him. And then you told me about her seeing Freya. And the sad look on your face when you told me she was going out with Jimmy. How he could prefer her to someone like you, I’ll never know.

I didn’t see her myself until today. When Jimmy came to visit me, I was just gazing out the window while he was talking to Grace. I saw her there standing by Jimmy’s car. Jimmy had mentioned he was taking a friend to the Lighthouse Hotel, so that’s how I knew where to find her. I didn’t know what outcome I was expecting after seeing her, but during the time in her hotel room, her phone rang. While I was trying to stop her answering it, I went to desperate measures and grabbed her hairbrush. I stabbed her with it and ran, not realising I still had the hairbrush in my hand.

When Jimmy found me, he saw the brush, and recognised it as Asha’s. He worked out what happened, you know what a clever detective he is. When I confessed to him, nothing more I could do, stalemate, I cried out that all I wanted was my mother back.

I nearly had her back through you, Caprice, and through Jermaine a sister. Had I not seen Asha again, I don’t know what I would have done once I recovered. But I would have wanted to see you regularly. You two were the best things to happen to me in the last month. Now I will never see you again.

I did not mean Robbie and Michael to die. I wasn’t intending to kill Asha. I have been told she’s ok. I was so desperate for my own justice that I did everything on impulse. I wait to see if I just get charged with manslaughter.

I am sorry I didn’t get to meet Cassie. Although it didn’t work out with Jimmy, you said you are still keeping in touch with her. That is good, I’m sure she’ll be a great friend. Who knows Caprice, you may meet another man. Or maybe, as you sometimes said, maybe God intended you just to be with Mick. I’m not religious like you, but I know what you’re getting at. And one day Jermaine will meet a nice guy. You two deserve the best.

So please take care. I know you won’t think so well of me now, but please know that I will never forget you. 

All my love  
Lena (Leanne)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends Part 3. All is sad.   
> With Series 5 appearing in the Real Shetland, my Part 4 will amalgamate series 4 and 5 to keep things rolling. Caprice will have one more obstacle before she finally gets her man. She tries to get on with her life and look after Jermaine, but deep down still has hope.


End file.
